Kit Hill

Kit Hill

Kit Hill (334 m) dominates the area between Callington and the River Tamar in southeast Cornwall, UK. 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). It is managed by Cornwall County Council.

The hill was formed in the same way as nearby Dartmoor and 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 fantastic views of the Tamar valley, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. Kit Hill Country Park has a high wildlife population including cattle and sheep in farms at its base, deer and badgers, rabbits, rare moths and butterflies.

The summit of Kit Hill is the location of an artificial fort (a Civil War redoubt) built by Sir John Call of Whiteford, Stoke Climsland. It represents the hill's historic significance as the location of a 9th century battle between an alliance of Cornish and Danes defending against the invading Saxons from the east in 838. The artificial fort is built in the style of a low walled Saxon castle. However it took until 927 for Athelstan to finally force the Celts to withdraw from Exeter and in 936 Athelstan's settlement fixed the east bank of the River Tamar as the boundary between Anglo-Saxon Wessex and Celtic Cornwall.

The Danish arrival before the battle in 838 is still commemorated in the annual Viking parade in Calstock, where locals dressed as Vikings row up the river to Danescombe, the site of the landing of the Danish boats.

Other notable artifacts on Kit Hill include Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows. The area around these is maintained by a ranger and volunteers, who also generally keep the vegetation on the hill under control.

It is one of only three Marilyn hills in Cornwall, the other two are Brown Willy and Carnmenellis.

Mining

The Country Park is steeped in mining history. Metals extracted included, Tin, Silver, Copper and Tungsten.
The main mines were:

• Kit Hill Summit Mines (which included a windmill near the present stack). These mines and shafts started about 1826. Kit Hill United closed in 1864.
• East Kit Hill Mine worked from 1855 to 1909.
• Hingston Down mine - which worked westwards towards Kit Hill. This was a very early mine, and evidence shows it may have started in the 17th Century. It closed in 1885.
• South Kit Hill Mine - 1856 - 1884.

Atomic Energy Authority

In 1877 a company called Kit Hill Tunnel Ltd began work on both the south and north sides of the hill to create a tunnel which would be 2 miles long. the southern portal was at Silver Hill, and that at the north was near a small mine called Exclesior. however, due to the toughness of the underlying bedrock, progress was costly and slow, and ceased about a year later. In 1881 a new company named Kit Hill Great Consols took over the setts of Kit Hill United and Excelsior mine. They deepened the North Engine Shaft to 112 fathoms and lengthened the tunnel running south to meet it. However, this too was proving too costly, and wound up in 1885, before it was half-way complete. Several later attempts were made to extend the Excelsior Tunnel, but by 1938, it was still only 2,400 feet long.

However, in 1959 the Atomic Energy Authority took over operations, and used the tunnel for underground explosions.

The activities were part of Operation Orpheous, and the Kit Hill events were the first part:

• Phase A: Small charges fired in a 6ft diameter cavity in granite and shale at depths of 100 to 300 feet in the Excelsior Tunnel at Kit Hill.
• Phase B: Participation in the Operation Cowboy tests, where charges of 3,000 lb would be detonated in 30 ft diameter cavities at depths of 800 ft in a salt mine in Louisiana, USA.
• Phase C: The Greenside Mine in Cumbria tests, where a 3,000 lb decoupled test and a 1,100 lb coupled test would be carried out in andesite rock at a depth below surface of 1,700 ft and the results compared. The charge sizes were chosen so that if the decoupling worked as predicted, the seismic signals would be similar in intensity.

Railways

Construction of The Tamar, Kit Hill & Callington Railway started in 1864. The name was later changed to the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, and the line opened in 1872. Seven and a half miles long, it ran from Calstock's river frontage, past Kelly Quay & Drakewalls and the Gunnislake quarries, along the northern flank of Hingston Down to below Kit Hill at Kelly Bray, where an inclined tramway connected with it. It amalgamated with the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway crossing the Tamar above Calstock and onto the junction at Bere Alston.

The Gunnislake to Bere Alston section still survives as part of the Tamar Valley Line.

Some remnants, mainly the granite blocks, of the line can be found on the northern slopes of the Country Park site.

External links

• Kit Hill Country Park
• Operation Orpheus - Atomic Energy Authority(Excelsior Tunnel)

References

50.51887°N 4.29360°W / 50.51887; -4.29360