- Source: Pilsdon Pen
Pilsdon Pen is a 277-metre (909 ft) hill in Dorset in South West England, situated at the north end of the Marshwood Vale, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Beaminster. It is Dorset's second highest point and has panoramic views extending for many miles. It was bequeathed to the National Trust by the Pinney family in 1982. For many years it was thought to be Dorset's highest hill, until modern survey revealed that nearby Lewesdon Hill was 2 metres higher.
Geology
The hill is a lower greensand Cretaceous outcrop situated amongst Jurassic strata of marl and clay, at the border between the chalk of South-East England and the granite of Devon and Cornwall.
Archaeology
The hill is topped by an Iron Age multivallate Durotrigian hillfort which was excavated in the 1960s by Peter Gelling of the University of Birmingham with his wife Margaret Gelling at the request of Michael Pinney. The remains of 14 roundhouses were uncovered near the centre of the hill fort. Surveys were also carried out by the National Trust in 1982, the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1995, and the University of Bournemouth in 2016.
There are differing views as to the age of the rectilinear (square) structures in the centre of the fort: they may be medieval "pillow mounds" (man-made mounds for breeding rabbits), or could be earlier in origin. There is no clear evidence to distinguish the other mounds between pillow mounds and burial mounds, and the acid soil causes almost all bone and pottery to be in very poor condition. The National Trust in the 1982 excavations (which restored the mounds to their original profile prior to Gelling's excavation) viewed them as medieval; Gelling had initially thought there was a case they might be earlier, which was one of the reasons for the Pinney funded excavations. Additional rectilinear structures are noted in the 1999 National Trust Resistivity survey.. The 2016 survey shows over 60 roundhouses, some with overlapping locations, indicating a long period of occupation. It is probable the site was abandoned before the construction of nearby Waddon Hill Roman Fort in AD 50.
The hillfort and associated remains are a scheduled monument and it was on the Heritage at Risk Register but was removed in 2022 as a result of the Hillforts and Habitats Project.
Landscape
Other notable high points in the vicinity are Lewesdon Hill (279 m), Dorset's highest point some 4 kilometres to the east, and Blackdown Hill (215 m), about 2 kilometres northwest. Though using the spelling Pillesdon, it was the central triangulation point for the area between 12 April and 1 June 1845 for the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain.
Dorothy and William Wordsworth
In 1795–7 Dorothy and William Wordsworth lived at Racedown House—a property of the Pinney family—to the west of Pilsdon Pen. They walked in the area for about two hours every day, and the nearby hills—including Pilsdon Pen—consoled Dorothy as she pined for the fells of her native Lakeland. She wrote,
"We have hills which, seen from a distance almost take the character of mountains, some cultivated nearly to their summits, others in their wild state covered with furze and broom. These delight me the most as they remind me of our native wilds."
See also
Lewesdon Hill
Notes
Bibliography
Gelling, P. S. 1977: Excavations on Pilsdon Pen, Dorset, 1964-71. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 43, 263-286.
Publications of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society - Excavations at Pilsdon Pen, P.S.Gelling, 86 102; 87 90; 88 106-107; 89 123-125; 90 166-167; 91 177-178; 92 126-127; 93 133-134
Publications of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society - Excavations at Pilsdon Pen Hillfort, 1982, D.W.R.Thackray, 104 178-179
External links
The Dorset Page
The modern antiquarian
National Trust Annual Archaeological Review 1999-2000
Photos from Geograph
The NT sign at the start of the path (Feb 2008)
Stile inscribed with Wordsworth quote
The history of the Screaming Skull and Pinney Family
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