Mendip Hills in the context of "River Avon (Bristol)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Mendip Hills

The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Chew Valley and other tributaries of the Avon to the north. The highest point, at 325 metres (1,066 ft) above sea level, is Beacon Batch which is the summit area atop Black Down. The hills gave their name to the former local government district of Mendip, which administered most of the local area until April 2023. The higher, western part of the hills, covering 198 km (76 sq mi) has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which gives it a level of protection comparable to a national park.

The hills are largely formed from Carboniferous Limestone, which is quarried at several sites. Ashmaple woodland, calcareous grassland and mesotrophic grassland which can be found across the Mendip Hills provide nationally important semi-natural habitats. With their temperate climate these support a range of flora and fauna including birds, butterflies and small mammals. The dry stone walls that divide the pasture into fields are of botanical importance as they support important populations of the nationally scarce wall whitlowgrass (Draba muralis).

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Mendip Hills in the context of Somerset Levels

The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.

The Somerset Levels have an area of about 160,000 acres (650 km) and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south are drained by the River Parrett, and the areas to the north by the rivers Axe and Brue. The Mendip Hills separate the Somerset Levels from the North Somerset Levels. The Somerset Levels consist of marine clay "levels" along the coast and inland peat-based "moors"; agriculturally, about 70 per cent is used as grassland and the rest is arable. Willow and teazel are grown commercially and peat is extracted.

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Mendip Hills in the context of Polden Hills

The Polden Hills in Somerset, England, are a long, low ridge, extending for 10 miles (16 km), and separated from the Mendip Hills, to which they are nearly parallel, by a marshy tract known as the Somerset Levels. They are now bisected at their western end by the M5 motorway and a railway, the Bristol and Exeter Railway, part of the Great Western Main Line.

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Mendip Hills in the context of River Axe (Bristol Channel)

The River Axe is a river in South West England. The river is formed by water entering swallets in the limestone and rises from the ground at Wookey Hole Caves in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, and runs through a V-shaped valley. The geology of the area is limestone and the water reaches Wookey Hole in a series of underground channels that have eroded through the soluble limestone. The river mouth is in Weston Bay on the Bristol Channel.

The river was navigable from the Middle Ages until 1915, during early centuries of which seeing some European trade.

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Mendip Hills in the context of North Somerset Levels

The North Somerset Levels is a coastal plain, an expanse of low-lying flat ground, which occupies an area between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol in North Somerset, England. The River Banwell, River Kenn, River Yeo and Land Yeo are the three principal rivers draining the area.

To the south the levels are bounded by the Mendip Hills, to the east by the Yeo Valley and the Lulsgate Plateau, and to the north by the Tickenham Ridge. To the west lies the Severn Estuary.

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Mendip Hills in the context of Brean Down

Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing 318 feet (97 m) high and extending 1+12 miles (2.5 kilometres) into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.

Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a continuation of the Mendip Hills. Two further continuations are the small islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. The cliffs on the northern and southern flanks of Brean Down have large quantities of fossils laid down in the marine deposits about 320–350 million years ago. The site has been occupied by humans since the late Bronze Age and includes the remains of a Romano-Celtic Temple. At the seaward end is Brean Down Fort which was built in 1865 and then re-armed in the Second World War.

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Mendip Hills in the context of North Somerset

North Somerset is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead, along with a number of villages and surrounding rural areas. Some southern parts of the district fall within the Mendip Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The district was formed in 1974 as the Woodspring district of the county of Avon. Avon was abolished in 1996, when the district was renamed North Somerset and its council took on county-level functions from the abolished county council.

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Mendip Hills in the context of Wells, Somerset

Wells (/wɛlz/) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, 21 miles (34 km) south-east of Weston-super-Mare, 22 mi (35 km) south-west of Bath and 23 mi (37 km) south of Bristol. Although the population recorded in the 2021 census was only 11,145, and with a built-up area of just 3.244 km (1.253 sq mi), Wells has had city status since medieval times, because of the presence of Wells Cathedral. Often described as England's smallest city, it is actually the second smallest to the City of London in area and population, but unlike London it is not part of a larger urban agglomeration.

Wells takes its name from three holy wells dedicated to Saint Andrew that lie within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and cathedral and supply water to the marketplace. A small Roman settlement surrounded them, which grew in importance and size under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church there in 704. The community became a trading centre based on cloth making and Wells is notable for its 17th-century involvement in both the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the 19th century, transport infrastructure improved with stations on three different railway lines. However, following the Beeching axe in 1964 the city has been without a railway link.

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