Clent Hills
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The Clent Hills lie 15 km southwest of Birmingham city centre in Worcestershire, England. The closest towns are Stourbridge and Halesowen, both in the West Midlands.
They consist of, in order from highest to lowest:
- Walton Hill
- Clent Hill
- Wychbury Hill
- Calcot Hill
History
Clent appears in the Domesday Book as "Klinter", and may be derived from the old Scandinavian word klint for a cliff. Once part of a Mercian forest, the hills contain the ramians of a multi-vallate Iron Age fort on Wychbury Hill. Local Historians have claimed that there was a battle between ancient Britons and Romans fought on Clent Heath. The summits of the two largest hills, Clent and Walton Hills are now the property of the National Trust.
The Clent Hills are graced with several classically-inspired architectural works from the late 1700s. Most of them are in the private grounds of Hagley Hall but most of them are visible from public areas. Lord Lyttelton of Hagley Hall constructed the Wychbury Obelisk on Wychbury Hill in 1758, which visible for many miles, even from the Clee Hills. He also had constructed many other follies including a Temple of Theseus, other small Greek and Roman temples, a full sized ruined castle (his lands did not contain a real one!) and 'The Four Stones' on top of Clent Hill. Some suggest that Lyttelton raised the Four Stones to annoy the Earl of Dudley, who had boasted that from his estate, Himley Hall, he could see no man-made structures.
The Clent Hills are also well-known for their role in the legend of St. Kenelm, who was murdered on a hunting trip at the north eastern slopes of Clent Hill in 821 AD. The Church of St. Kenelm in the parish of Romsley marks the site of the murder. One source of the River Stour is within the grounds of the church.
The view
The hills rise to a height of 316 m (1037 ft), with views over the Malvern Hills, Kinver Edge, The Wrekin, Wenlock Edge, Shatterford Hill, Clee Hills and back round to Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Dudley, Halesowen and Turners Hill. On a clear day you can even see as far as the Black Mountains of Wales, the Cotswolds, the Peak District and Charnwood Forest. Landmarks visible from the hills include Dudley Castle, the large Droitwich AM transmitters near Bromsgrove, the large silos on the British Sugar Corporation land in Kidderminster, Buildwas Power Station, near Telford and the nearby Wychbury Obelisk. It is because of this that the hills are very popular with walkers and ramblers. The hills are criss-crossed with many public footpaths. A popular means of access to Clent Hill is from Nimmings car park, off Hagley Wood Lane. From this an easy access route leads to the ridge.
Geography
The hills along with the Lickey Hills form a range of hills in north Worcestershire. The largest of the Clent Hills is Walton Hill which is just over 316 metres high followed by Clent Hill. They are separated by a valley known as St Kenelm's Pass, which starts as an escarpment one side of which along with the sides of the two hills falls away towards Uffmoor Wood water flowing down this slope enters streams which become the River Stour. The other side of the escapment becomes a sharp V valley in which a stream flows down into Clent village the Walton Hill side of the vally is known as Clatterbach. In the past, before steam power replaced water power, the stream in the vally was dammed at regular intervals to provide water power for mills. The remains of one such dam can be seen behined the Vine Inn in Clent which was once a mill.
Either side of the two largest hills are two more hills. Beside Clent Hill is Wychbury Hill and beside Walton Hill is Calcot Hill. Calcot Hill is not really a separate hill but at the end of a long spur which runs from the summit of Walton hill for about a mile. There is a public footpath along the spur joining the two hills. Along side the spur is another deep V shaped valley which was dammed at frequent intervals to provide power to mills. This stream flows on to the village of Belbroughton in which the Nash crown scythe works used the water to power its machinery. On the other side of the valley is Romsley Hill the valley banks of which are covered by Great Farley Wood beyond Romsley Hill are a number of lower hills (Windmill, Chapman's and Waseley) which join the Clent hills to the Lickey Hills in one continuous chain.
The National Trust land on the hills encompass 1.77 square kilometres of woodland (both natural deciduous and coniferous plantations) and heathland, important for wildlife including Fallow Deer and Common Buzzard, plus visiting Ring Ouzel and Common Crossbill.
Snow will often lie on the summits of the hills for a few days longer than the surrounding flat and urban areas.
External links
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