Solsbury Hill Totally Explained

Everything about Solsbury Hill totally explained

ť This article is about the hill called Solsbury near the city of Bath. For the Peter Gabriel song, see Solsbury Hill (song).

Little Solsbury Hill (more commonly known as Solsbury Hill) is a small flat-topped hill above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to above the River Avon which is just over to the south. It is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It gives impressive views of the city of Bath and the surrounding area. The hill was immortalized in 1976 by Peter Gabriel in his song 'Solsbury Hill'.
   It is sometimes misspelled as Salisbury, or Solisbury, perhaps because of confusion with Salisbury Plain (a plateau in southern England), or the city of Salisbury. Alternatively it may be connected with the Celtic god Sulis who is associated with nearby Bath.
History and Archaeology
The hill was an Iron Age hill fort occupied between 300 BC and 100 BC, comprising a triangular area enclosed by a single univallate rampart, faced inside and out with well-built dry stone walls and infilled with rubble. The rampart was wide and the outer face was at least high. The top of the hill was cleared down to the bedrock, then substantial huts were built with wattle and daub on a timber-frame. After a period of occupation, some of the huts were burnt down, the rampart was overthrown, and the site was abandoned, never to be reoccupied. This event is probably part of the Belgic invasion of Britain in the early part of the 1st century BC.
   The hill is near the Fosse Way Roman Road as it descends into Batheaston on its way to Aquae Sulis.
   Solsbury Hill is a possible location of the Battle of Mount Badon, fought between the Britons (under the legendary King Arthur) and the Saxons c. 496, mentioned by the chroniclers Gildas and Nennius.
Wildlife
The slopes are a classic example of limestone grassland reflecting the underlying geology of the area. This limestone habitat supports a wide range of specialist plants and animals, including some rare species. Examples of plant species found here are Bird's Foot Trefoil, vetches, Greater Knapweed, and Bee and Pyramidal Orchids.
   Insect species that may be present include the Six-spotted Burnet Moth and a number of butterflies including Chalkhill Blues and Meadow Fritillary.
   The Grassland hasn't been improved through any agricultural practice. The Yellow meadow ant hills are evidence of this. These grassy mounds show that the site hasn't been ploughed for at least fifty years.
   The skylark nests on the hill. Its liquid warbling of short trills is usually the first thing to be expected by the observer. This is followed by the sight of a small fluttering and hovering speck high in the sky. This is the song-flight of the Skylark, lasting up to an hour and reaching heights of up to 300m.
   The skylark population has halved since 1990. It is believed this is because of intensification of farm practices leading to the loss of habitat and available food supply. The management of grassland and scrub is important to allow these birds to flourish.
Cultural references
Solsbury Hill is also the inspiration for rock musician Peter Gabriel's first solo single in 1977, which reached the 13th and 68th positions on the UK and US record charts respectively.
Contemporary Issues
People protesting against the building of an A46 bypass road cut a small maze into the hill during its construction in the mid-1990s.

Further Information
Get more info on 'Solsbury Hill'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://solsbury_hill.totallyexplained.com">Solsbury Hill Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
   As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.