Kit Hill
Kit Hill (Cornish: Bre Skowl),at 334 metres high, dominates the area between Callington and the River Tamar in southeast Cornwall.
The word 'Kit' comes from Old English for kite, a reference to birds of prey (and not specifically the red kite). Buzzards and sparrowhawks can still be seen on the hill.
Kit Hill Country Park (which includes the hill and surrounding areas), was given to the people of Cornwall in 1985 to mark the birth of Prince William, by his father, the Duke of Cornwall (Prince Charles).
The country park is managed by Cornwall Council, and consists of some 400 acres (152 hectares), making it the most dominant landscape feature in East Cornwall. Kit Hill is the highest point in the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The hill was formed in the same way as nearby Bodmin Moor by the intrusion of magma into overlying sedimentary rocks. This caused the formation of many mineral deposits that were mined extensively in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
As the highest point of Hingston Down, Kit Hill is probably the best viewpoint in the southeast of Cornwall, with views of the Tamar valley, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. Kit Hill Country Park has a high wildlife population including deer and badgers, rabbits, rare moths and butterflies.
On the summit of Kit Hill is an artificial fort (a Civil War redoubt) and a folly built by Sir John Call of Whiteford, Stoke Climsland, built in the style of a low-walled Saxon castle.
Read MoreThe word 'Kit' comes from Old English for kite, a reference to birds of prey (and not specifically the red kite). Buzzards and sparrowhawks can still be seen on the hill.
Kit Hill Country Park (which includes the hill and surrounding areas), was given to the people of Cornwall in 1985 to mark the birth of Prince William, by his father, the Duke of Cornwall (Prince Charles).
The country park is managed by Cornwall Council, and consists of some 400 acres (152 hectares), making it the most dominant landscape feature in East Cornwall. Kit Hill is the highest point in the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The hill was formed in the same way as nearby Bodmin Moor by the intrusion of magma into overlying sedimentary rocks. This caused the formation of many mineral deposits that were mined extensively in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
As the highest point of Hingston Down, Kit Hill is probably the best viewpoint in the southeast of Cornwall, with views of the Tamar valley, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. Kit Hill Country Park has a high wildlife population including deer and badgers, rabbits, rare moths and butterflies.
On the summit of Kit Hill is an artificial fort (a Civil War redoubt) and a folly built by Sir John Call of Whiteford, Stoke Climsland, built in the style of a low-walled Saxon castle.
