Dunstable Downs
{{Short description|Part of Chiltern Hills, England}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Dunstable Downs
| photo = Trig point, on Dunstable Downs - geograph.org.uk - 1440937.jpg
| elevation_m = 243
| prominence_m = 105
| parent_peak = Haddington Hill
| listing = County Top
| location = Chiltern Hills, England
| map = United Kingdom Bedfordshire
| map_caption = Dunstable Downs in Bedfordshire
| map_size =
| label_position = right
| coordinates = {{coord|51.864243|N|0.536344|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| grid_ref_UK = TL008194
| topo = OS Landranger 166
}}
Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire, England; and are located near (and named after) the town of Dunstable. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At {{convert|243|m|ft|abbr=on}}, Dunstable Downs are the highest point in the county of Bedfordshire.{{cite web|publisher=Bedfordshire Libraries |url=http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.yoyo/yyc_facts_geography.htm |title=Geographical Facts, Figures and Statistics about Bedfordshire |accessdate=23 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711231258/http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.yoyo/yyc_facts_geography.htm |archivedate=11 July 2007 }}
Because of its elevation, Dunstable Downs hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth during the years 1808 to 1814.{{cite web | publisher=Great Yarmouth Mercury | url=http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/content/yarmouthmercury/content/porthole/story.aspx?brand=GYMOnline&category=Porthole&tBrand=GYMonline&tCategory=porthole&itemid=NOED03%20Jan%202008%2015%3A17%3A31%3A957 | title=Shutter telegraph signalled new era | accessdate=23 February 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Whipsnade Zoo has cut an enormous lion shape into the chalk on the side of one of the hills. The lion can be seen from the B489 (Aylesbury to Dunstable road).
The downs are used by gliders, kite fliers, hang gliders and paragliders in the area because of their height. The London Gliding Club is based at the foot of the downs.
Much of the downs is managed by the National Trust as part of the Dunstable Downs & Whipsnade Estate property.
Ascents
Central Bedfordshire Council and the National Trust commissioned Archetype architects to build a visitor centre known as the Chilterns Gateway Centre, on the very top of Dunstable Downs. The summit is right next to the B4541 road that crosses the hill, and so an ascent of the hill requires nothing more than getting out of a car at the highest point and walking across to the trig point.
For those who wish to climb the hill from the base, it is possible to do a circular walk from the village of Whipsnade by following the Icknield Way Path and Chiltern Way, both of which are marked on Ordnance Survey maps. This circuit can be extended to take in the northern top of Five Knolls. The hill can also be ascended from Dunstable to the north.
The Icknield Way Trail,[http://www.IcknieldWayTrail.org.uk Icknield Way Trail]. a horse rider and off-road cycle route, has been established following a similar route to the Icknield Way Path which passes over the Dunstable Downs.
Archaeological sites
File:Five Knolls Barrow Cemetery View, Dunstable, Bedfordshire - View 2.jpg
The Five Knolls Barrow Cemetery is located at the northern tip of the Dunstable Downs. First described by antiquarian William Stukeley in the 18th century,{{Cite web|url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=359853&sort=4&search=all&criteria=seven%20barrows&rational=q&recordsperpage=10|title=Pastscape – Detailed Result: FIVE KNOLLS|website=pastscape.org.uk|access-date=2018-11-05}} the site contained burials from the late Neolithic to Saxon eras prior to excavation. They include the "Five Knolls Woman", aged between 35 and 40 years, buried on her side with a flint knife.{{Cite web|url=http://virtual-library.culturalservices.net/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.digitised_resources/dunstable_digitisation_az_fiveknolls.htm|title=Dunstable: Five Knoll Barrow Cemetery – Digitised Resources – The Virtual Library|last=Council|first=Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire|website=virtual-library.culturalservices.net|access-date=2018-11-05}} A mother and child, buried with a number of echinoid fossils were also found, dating approximately from the early Bronze Age.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puRnCwAAQBAJ&q=mother+child+dunstable+downs+echinoids&pg=PA19|title=The Materiality of Magic: An artifactual investigation into ritual practices and popular beliefs|last=Armitage|first=Natalie|date=2015-12-31|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=9781785700132}} The site is also known for the deviant burial of executed Saxon criminals.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAoUDAAAQBAJ&q=five+knolls+deviant+burial&pg=PA97|title=Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs|last=Reynolds|first=Andrew|date=2009-03-26|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780199544554}}
Natural history
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2022}}
The downs are home to a wide variety of wildlife including many rare wild flowers, such as the bee orchid, and butterfly species, like the marbled white and the chalkhill blue.
Areas of the west-facing slope were notified in 1987 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) called Dunstable and Whipsnade Downs. Blow's Down is a continuation of the Dunstable Downs escarpment on the eastern side of Dunstable. It is also an SSSI and most of it is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (as Blow's Downs).
See also
Notes and references
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Dunstable Downs}}
- [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunstable-downs-and-whipsnade-estate Dunstable Downs, Countryside Centre & Whipsnade Estate at the National Trust]
- [http://www.londonglidingclub.co.uk/ London Gliding Club]
Category:Hills of Bedfordshire
Category:National Trust properties in Bedfordshire