Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills are a limestone ( Karst ) mountain range existing in England. It is located 25 km south of Bristol in north Somerset.
The hills are bordered to the south and west of the Somerset Levels called bogs. In the north they pull up to the River Avon and the Chew Valley Lake. They are for the most part on the territory of the Mendip district named after them, whose territory is nearly identical to the expansion of the Mendips. Some of the northern heights, are also in the adjoining districts of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset, part of the former County of Avon, which was dissolved in 1996. A 200 km ² large part of the Mendips has been declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, giving the area enjoys the same protection enjoyed also a national park.
The term Mendip supposed to have from the brythonischen term Mened (Welsh mynydd ) formed, denoted by the Celtic Britons higher altitude Moore. The suffix could be the result of a shortening of the Anglo-Saxon word for hop valley.
Geology
While most of the Mendips consists of limestone, which dates from the Carboniferous and the Jura, also smaller areas of sandstone and rocks from volcanic origin are formed. These rocks have originated in Devon (sandstone) and the Silurian ( volcanic rock ). The volcanic rock used in road today. From the Roman period to the Victorian era the Mendips were also due to the local lead deposits of economic importance.
In the Mendips, there are several typical for limestone soils phenomena such as caves, of which in particular the famous Wookey Hole is to call, Kalkteppiche and canyons. Particularly well-known gorges are the Cheddar Gorge and Burrington Combe the.
Ecology
Large areas of the Mendips are alkalines open grasslands, which forms the basis for the enormous wealth of the country to flowering plants and insects. Grazing rabbits, sheep and cattle provide for the preservation of grassland habitat that would otherwise be converted into a deciduous forest.
Part of the Mendips is earlier - has been used intensively for agriculture - especially in the years after the Second World War. As the demand for farmland in the UK, but it steadily, former arable land are currently being converted back to grassland. However, caused by the agricultural years of use of fertilizers and herbicides limits the diversity in the new grassland areas an even.
The heathland on the northern foothills of the Mendips have recently acquired some importance from an ornithological point of view, after there has settled from Provence warblers a colony. This species, which primarily on Black Down and settled in the western Mendips on the Crook Peak is, otherwise encountered in the UK only in low heathland.
The highest point of the Mendips is with 325 meters of Beacon Batch in Blackdown. The Blackdown has all the characteristics of a moor, whose low-lying areas are in brackish water while the higher towering hills are covered with grass and heather. The vegetation of these hills is similar to the pasture land, which covers most of the Mendips.
The forests of Stock Hill are a breeding ground for the nightjar and the long-eared owl. The Waldegrave Pool is an important life area for dragonflies, among which is the congregation emerald dragonfly and the Vierfleck are.
The Mendips are known for their dry stone walls which separate the pastures each other. The constructed in a space frame construction walls are very stable, although they have been built without mortar. It will be replaced by barbed wire fences and cattle after their condition has deteriorated due to lack of maintenance over the years more and more more and more of these walls. The remaining walls are interesting from a botanical point of view, because that has settled in the UK endangered Wall Draba on them.
History
In the Mendips, there are many remains from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age; among other grave mound and Henges, including the Priddy Circles. In particular, the caves ( Aveline 's Hole ) of Cheddar Gorge are known for archaeological finds. Many artifacts have been washed away by floods in the caves and preserved there in the mud. The most famous discovery that was made there, the so-called Cheddar Man.
In recent centuries, stones are in the Mendips as well as in the northern Cotswolds, been dismantled, which were needed especially in the cities of Bath and Bristol, but also in some smaller places in Somerset. The quarries of Whatley Quarry and Torr Works, which marks about the eastern end of the Mendips, are still the main supplier for the jewels needed in road West of England. A large part of these stones is transported away from the railway company Mendip Rail rail.
On the Pen Hill near Wells is the Mendip TV Mast. With this installed in the 1960s mast is the largest in the region.
In the years 2003 and 2004 near Chewton Mendip planned construction of a 300 foot wind turbine has been controversial. After long debates the project by the relevant district council was rejected, the place with this decision for various local groups and organizations applause. The main reason for the rejection was the location of the proposed plant on the border of the protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It was feared that such a system would significantly tighten the beautiful and very impressive landscape affected.
Landmarks
- Cheddar
- Shepton Mallet
- Wells