Bleadon Hill

Bleadon Hill
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Bleadon Hill is located in Somerset
Bleadon Hill
Location within Somerset
LocationAvon
Grid referenceST383588
Coordinates51°18′45″N 2°55′54″W / 51.3124°N 2.9318°W / 51.3124; -2.9318
InterestGeological
Area33.41 acres (0.1352 km2; 0.05220 sq mi)
Notification1999 (1999)
Natural England website

Bleadon Hill (grid reference ST351574) is a 13.52 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest just north of the village of Bleadon, North Somerset, notified in 1999.

The site is a Geological Conservation Review site, as it shows a low ridge of calcite-cemented Pleistocene sand and gravel on its southern side. Various marine or glacial origins have been postulated for the sediments and it has even been suggested that this is a Mesozoic beach conglomerate. On the basis of the sedimentology, it is most likely that these sediments accumulated during the Quaternary when an ice sheet rested against Bleadon Hill.[1]

There is evidence or agricultural use of the land in the medieval period and possibly from Roman times.[2]

  1. ^ * English Nature citation sheet for the site Archived October 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (accessed 9 July 2006)
  2. ^ "Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (PDF). Somerset County Council Archeological Projects. Retrieved 16 January 2011.