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St Catherine's Hill forms the southern end of Town Common to the north-west of
Fairmile. Stunning views are to be had from the east of Town Common and
St Catherine's Hill over the flood plain of the
river Avon
to the east, from Christchurch in the south, dominated by the tower of the
Priory, Christchurch Harbour backed by the bulk
Hengistbury Head
and of the flood plain itself as the Avon winds
its way northwards to Ringwood. The view across the river Stour to the west is restricted
by the thick stands of pine trees which cover the western slopes but there is a
vantage point which allows a grand view over to Littledown and further north, the
white gleaming roofs of the vast sheds which are the redeveloped Hampshire Centre
make a bold statement on the landscape.
St catherine's Hill is now much as Hengistbury Head must have been when it was several kilometres inland.
Now maintained predominantly as a wildlife reserve and recreational area, St
Catherine's Hill was a place of settlement during the Bronze Age
and possesses earthworks of that age and half a dozen barrows.
Although the land is privately owned, the site is managed by the Herpetological
Conservation Trust (tel. 01202-391319). This Site of Special Scientific Interest is the
home of the rare and threatened sand lizard
(Lacerta agilis).
Although parts of Town Common still retain their heathland
character created by
millenia of grazing, it is allowed gradually to be taken over by scrub and pine
woods as it is now impracticable to manage the heathland
by grazing.
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If legend is to be believed, it is atop St Catherine's Hill that
the Bishop of Durham, Ranulf Flambard, intended that his great church should be built. But,
so the legend recalls, the materials for its construction which had daily been hauled
to the summit were found each morning at the hill's base. Evetually, the Norman bishop
conceded defeat and the church was built on the ancient Saxon site near the confluence
of the Avon and the Stour and the tower of Flambard's Priory still dominates the
view of Christchurch to the south-west.
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| | | TOWNS & VILLAGES | | Burton
Dorset, England | 2.9 km SW | | Holdenhurst
Dorset, England | 1.4 km SE | | Hurn
Dorset, England | 1.8 km NE | | Sopley
Hampshire, England | 1.8 km NW | | Throop
Bournemouth, Dorset, England | 2.7 km SE | | Winkton
Dorset,
England | 2 km W | | | | | OTHER PLACES | | West Kennet Long Barrow
Wiltshire, England
3,500-year-old long barrow - one of the longest in
England & Wales - the burial chambers open to the public | 71.5 km NW | | Silbury Hill
Wiltshire, England
The purpose of the
huge mound, a huge investment of prehistoric resources, can only be guessed
at | 72.6 km NW | | Windmill Hill
Wiltshire, England
5,500-year-old Neolithic causewayed enclosure - one of the earliest
Neolithic settlements in England | 75.7 km NW | | Lacock Fox Talbot Museum
Lacock nr Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 2LG
A museum of photography comemmorating William Fox Talbot who was the inventor of the modern photographic negative. | 75.7 km NW | | Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum
Downside, Stockley Lane, Calne, Wiltshire SN11
Cars from 1924-83, classic motorbikes and memorabilia. | 76.2 km NW | |
Built around and Elizabethn House dating from 1582, by Capability Brown, John Nash and Thomas Bellamy, the house houses many art treasures by names such as Adams, Caravaggio, Chippendale, Lippi, Michelangelo, R | 79.2 km NW | | British Empire & Commonwealth Museum
Clock Tower Yard, Temple Meads, Bristol BS1 6QH
The British Empire & Commonwealth Museum represents the first serious attempt in the United kingdom to present a publicly accessible history of the British empire and to examine its continuing impact on Britain and the rest of the world. This was the larg | 94.7 km NW |
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