View source for Leith Hill

{{short description|Hill in Surrey, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Leith Hill
| photo = Leith_hill_07.jpg
| photo_caption = 
| elevation_m = 294
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence_m = 249
| prominence_ref = 
| listing = [[Marilyn (hill)|Marilyn]],<ref name="dawson">{{cite book|last=Dawson |first=Alan |title=The Relative Hills of Britain |publisher=Cicerone Press |location=Milnthorpe, Cumbria, England |year=1992 |chapter=The Marilyns by Height |isbn=1-85284-068-4 |url=http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/marilyns/chapter4.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822021651/http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/marilyns/chapter4.htm |archive-date=22 August 2010 }} Dawson draws his information from various editions of [[Ordnance Survey]] maps, but he does not specify which.</ref> [[Hardy (hill)|Hardy]], [[List of English counties by highest point|County Top]]
| location = [[Surrey]], England
| range = [[Greensand Ridge]]
| map               = United Kingdom Surrey
| map_alt           = 
| map_caption       = Leith Hill in [[Surrey]]
| map_relief        = 1
| map_size          = 
| label             = Leith Hill
| label_position    = bottom
| coordinates       = {{coord|51|10|33|N|0|22|11|W|type:mountain_region:GB_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range_coordinates = 
| grid_ref_UK = TQ139431
| topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landranger'' 187
| type = 
| age = 
| last_eruption = 
| first_ascent = 
| easiest_route = 
}}

'''Leith Hill''' in southern England is the highest summit of the [[Greensand Ridge]],<ref name=BGS_Gallois>{{cite book |last1= Gallois |first1= RW |last2= Edmunds |first2= MA |year= 1965 |title= The Wealden District |publisher= British Geological Survey |isbn= 0-11-884078-9}}</ref> approximately {{convert|6.7|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Dorking]], [[Surrey]] and {{convert|40.5|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Charing Cross|central London]]. It reaches {{convert|294|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} [[above mean sea level|above sea level]],<ref>''[http://benchmarks.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=111:3:6394779364915384831::NO::P3_HIDDEN:true Bench marks km square TQ1343] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725063506/http://benchmarks.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=111:3:6394779364915384831::NO::P3_HIDDEN:true |date=25 July 2011 }}'': The exact height of the benchmark on the tower, surveyed in 1972, is 293.8730&nbsp;metres AMSL. The cut mark is 0.5&nbsp;m off the ground, hence a height of 293.4&nbsp;m. On the 1:50000 ordnance map this is [[Rounding|rounded]] to 294 m. {{cite map |publisher=Ordnance Survey|title= Dorking, Reigate and Crawley area|edition= 10GSGS|year= 1991|scale=1:50000 |series= Landranger 187|isbn=0-319-22187-3 }}</ref> and is the second highest point in [[southeast England]], after [[Walbury Hill]] in southwest [[Berkshire]], (which is {{convert|297|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high).<ref name="dawson" />  Leith Hill is the highest ground for {{convert|49|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}}.

Four areas of woodland surrounding the hill comprise the {{convert|  337.9|ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} [[Leith Hill SSSI|Leith Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest]], although the summit is excluded from this designation.<ref name=dsv>{{cite web  |url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000922&SiteName=&countyCode=41&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=  |title= Designated Sites View: Leith Hill  |series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest  |publisher= Natural England  |access-date= 9 November 2018  |archive-date= 9 November 2018  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181109234745/https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000922&SiteName=&countyCode=41&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=  |url-status= live  }}</ref>

The nearest railway station is [[Holmwood railway station|Holmwood station]], {{convert|3.6|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} to the east, served by [[Southern (train operating company)|Southern]] trains to [[London Victoria station|London Victoria]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Bathurst |first= David |year= 2012 |title= Walking the county high points of England |location= Chichester |publisher= Summersdale |isbn= 978-1-84-953239-6 |pages= 132–137}}</ref>

==Leith Hill Tower==
[[File:Leith hill tower.JPG|thumb|250px|left|The tower on the top of Leith Hill]]
On the summit of Leith Hill is an 18th-century Gothic tower. In 1764–65 Richard Hull of nearby [[Leith Hill Place]] built "Prospect House", later to become known as Leith Hill Tower,<ref name=NHLE_Tower>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1028808|desc=Leith Hill Tower}}</ref> with the intention of raising the hill above {{convert|1000|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} above sea level. A tower built contemporaneously at the summit of [[Bredon Hill]] achieves a similar purpose.

Leith Hill Tower is {{convert|19.5|m|ft|0}} high and consisted of two rooms "neatly furnished", with a [[Latin]] inscription above the door announcing that it had been built not only for his own pleasure, but also for the enjoyment of others. Hull provided visitors with prospect glasses, similar to a small [[telescope]], through which to survey the extensive views towards London and the [[English Channel]], each some {{convert|25|mi|km}} away.

When Hull died in 1772, at his request he was buried under the tower.<ref name=NHLE_Tower/> Following his death, the building was stripped of its contents, doors and windows, and fell into ruin. As a result, the tower was filled with rubble and concrete, and the entrance bricked up.

In 1864, [[William Evelyn (died 1908)|William John Evelyn]] of nearby [[Wotton House, Surrey|Wotton House]] decided to reopen it, but the concrete made this difficult, and so the additional turreted side-tower was added to allow access to the top of the tower.<ref name=NHLE_Tower/>

At the top of the tower there is a viewpoint indicator to commemorate [[Edmund Seyfang Taylor|Walker Miles]], whose work in the early days of the Rambler's movement contributed to the formation of The [[Ramblers]] of Great Britain. It has been claimed that on a clear day, 13 counties can be seen from the top of Leith Hill Tower.<ref>[http://www.surreyhills.org/The-Surrey-Hills/The-Surrey-Hills-Landscape/Hills-and-Views.aspx surreyhills.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214063118/http://www.surreyhills.org/The-Surrey-Hills/The-Surrey-Hills-Landscape/Hills-and-Views.aspx |date=14 February 2012 }}</ref>

The tower was fully restored by the [[National Trust]] in 1984. This restoration included the removal of rubble and concrete, fitting safety features such as a handrail in the narrow staircase, and converting the lower portion of the tower into a servery. Following restoration, the mobile phone operator Cellnet installed a first-generation transmitter station (Base site) into one of the tower rooms, feeding single vertical antennas on the tower roof dressed to look like flag poles.
Leith Hill Tower is open to the public every day from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm on weekdays and 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekends, every day of the year except [[Christmas Day]], with a comprehensive display explaining the history of the tower.

==History==
[[File:Neolithic, Lithic implement (FindID 608908).jpg|thumb|right|[[Mesolithic]] and/or [[Neolithic]] flint tools, found close to the summit of Leith Hill<ref>{{cite web |last= Broomfield |first= Margaret |title= Lithic implement |date= 9 April 2014 |orig-date= 30 March 2014 |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/608908 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme |access-date= 17 Aug 2022 }}</ref>]]
Leith Hill was owned by the Evelyn family of Wotton House from the 17th to the early 20th centuries.<ref name=Grieves-2008>{{cite journal |vauthors= Grieves K |year= 2008 |title= Leith Hill, Surrey: Landscape, Locality and Nation in the Era of the Great War |journal= Landscapes |volume= 9 |issue= 2 |pages= 45–69 |doi= 10.1179/lan.2008.9.2.45 |s2cid= 145689873 }}</ref> On the death of Lt. John Evelyn in 1922,{{refn|John H. C. Evelyn served as a lieutenant in the [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] (a British Army [[line infantry]] [[regiment]]) during [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1090468 |title= Lieutenant John Harcourt Chichester EVELYN. Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders). |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 1914–1919 |publisher= The National Archives |access-date= 28 July 2020 |archive-date= 23 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210123094349/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1090468 |url-status= live }}</ref> He was badly injured at the Western Front and his leg was amputated in October 1918. He died on 2 January 1922.<ref name=Grieves-2008/>|group=note}} the executors of his will were required to raise money to pay [[inheritance tax|death duties]] and they therefore offered the Tower and the surrounding five acres of Leith Hill for sale. After a campaign, organised in part by the [[Open Spaces Society|Commons and Footpath Preservation Society]], the land was bought by Wilfred James MacAndrew (a resident of [[Reigate]] and former co-owner of the shipping company MacAndrew & Co){{refn|The MacAndrew family sold their stake in the business in June 1917. The company survives to this day as part of the French container transportation firm [[CMA CGM]].|group=note}} and donated to the National Trust.<ref name=Grieves-2008/><ref>{{cite news |author= Bailey J |title= Leith Hill: Tower and five acres purchased |work= The Times |location= London |date= 23 March 1923 |issue= 43297 |page= 13}}</ref>

==Leith Hill Place==
[[File:Leith Hill Place 2.jpg|thumb|Leith Hill Place, childhood home of the composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]].]]
Originally a gabled house dating from about 1600, Leith Hill Place ({{coord|51.1692957|-0.3798451|display=inline}}) was completely refaced in a [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style about 1760 by Richard Hull.<ref>Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner, Buildings of England - Surrey, Penguin, 1962</ref> It was bought in 1847 by [[Josiah Wedgwood III]]<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1028801|desc=Leith Hill Place}}</ref> and remained in the family until his grandson, the composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], who had been brought up there and eventually inherited it from his brother, immediately gave it to the [[National Trust]] on his brother's death in 1944. Subsequently, it was leased from the Trust by his cousins [[Sir Ralph Wedgwood]] and then [[Sir John Wedgwood]], later becoming a boarding house for a nearby sixth form college, [[Hurtwood House]].

The house was opened to the public by the National Trust in 2013 and now serves as a memorial to Ralph Vaughan Williams.<ref>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill/things-to-see-and-do/leith-hill-place/ Leith Hill Place] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320183310/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill/things-to-see-and-do/leith-hill-place/ |date=20 March 2014 }}, accessed 18 October 2015</ref> Josiah Wedgwood's [[widow]], born Caroline Darwin, created a [[rhododendron]] wood there, now open to the public.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/leith_hill_rhododendron_wood |title=gardenvisit.com |access-date=18 November 2012 |archive-date=19 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719043841/http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/leith_hill_rhododendron_wood |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:Western_Weald_geology_cross_section.png|thumb|Simplified geological cross section of the western Weald, showing how the land was uplifted to form the [[Weald-Artois anticline]] (dashed lines) and the strata as they are today (solid lines).]]
Like the other summits of the [[Greensand Ridge]] in the south of Surrey, the rock of which Leith Hill is composed, is primarily the Lower Greensand, overlaid with a harder layer of [[chert]].<ref>{{cite book |last1= Bennison |first1= GM |last2= Wright |first2= AE |year= 1969 |title= The geological history of the British Isles |location= London |publisher= Edward Arnold |page= 321}}</ref> The greensand was deposited in the [[early Cretaceous]], most likely in a [[anoxic waters|shallow sea with low oxygen levels]]. Over the subsequent 50 million years, other strata were deposited on top of the Lower Greensand, including [[Gault|Gault clay]] and the [[chalk]] of the North and South Downs.<ref name=BGS_Gallois/>

Following the [[Cretaceous]], the sea covering the south of England began to retreat and the land was pushed higher. The Weald (the area covering modern-day south Surrey, south Kent, north Sussex and east Hampshire) was lifted by [[Alpine orogeny|the same geological processes that created the Alps]], resulting in an [[anticline]] which stretched across the [[English Channel]] to the [[Artois|Artois region]] of northern France. Initially an island, this [[Weald-Artois Anticline|dome-like structure]] was drained by the ancestors of the rivers which today cut through the North and South Downs (including the [[River Mole|Mole]], [[River Wey|Wey]] and [[River Arun|Arun]]).{{refn|Leith Hill forms the [[drainage divide|watershed]] between the Mole (to the north east), the Wey (to the north west), and the Arun (to the south).|group=note}} The dome was eroded away over the course of the [[Cenozoic]], exposing the strata beneath and resulting in the [[escarpment]]s of the Downs and the Greensand Ridge.<ref name=BGS_Gallois/>

== Search for oil ==
A site on an ancient lane going up the hill was originally chosen by an oil company for exploratory drilling, however due to an active protest campaign and various legal objections raised by local groups and environmentalists, the lease on the land from the [[Forestry Commission]] expired before the drilling could start. The Minister for Environment subsequently decided not to renew the lease due to concerns of the effect it would have on nearby ancient woodland. The oil company has since stated it intends to find a new site from which to explore the same prospect. Locals have stated that they will continue to oppose this.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-45409331|title=Oil firm withdraws test drilling plans|date=2018-09-04|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-09-05|language=en-GB|archive-date=5 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905103621/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-45409331|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geodesy==
Leith Hill Tower was the origin (meridian) of the 6 inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of Surrey.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.charlesclosesociety.org/files/153Meridians.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026185105/https://www.charlesclosesociety.org/files/153Meridians.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage|Dorking|Leith Hill}}
* [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill Leith Hill information at the National Trust]
* Computer generated summit panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENG/Leith-N.gif North] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENG/Leith-S.gif South] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html index]

{{Surrey Hills AONB}}
{{Mole Valley}}

[[Category:Hills of Surrey]]
[[Category:Marilyns of England]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in Surrey]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Surrey]]
[[Category:Towers in Surrey]]
[[Category:Highest points of English counties]]
[[Category:Mole Valley]]