- Corstorphine Hill
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Corstorphine Hill Tower, a memorial to Sir Walter Scott
Corstorphine Hill is one of the hills of Edinburgh, Scotland, named for nearby Corstorphine. There are traditionally said to be seven hills in Edinburgh in reference to the Seven hills of Rome, but this figure is debatable, and as the city has expanded, even more so. It is a long ridge shaped hill, mostly forested ("Corstorphine Woods") with broad leaves, and has extensive development on its south side, including Edinburgh Zoo. Much housing has been built on the lower slopes, and houses in other parts of the city have been built using stone quarried from Corstorphine Hill.
Barnton Quarry, at the north end of the hill, was the site of a war-time radar station and cold-war nuclear bunker. There is a walled garden at Clerwood to the south-west (55°57′0.47″N 3°16′36.89″W / 55.9501306°N 3.2769139°W); it was featured on the BBC TV programme The Beechgrove Garden and it was awarded the first Green Pennant Award in Scotland in July 2009. On the east slope is Murrayfield Golf Course and the suburb of Craigcrook. Locally, the hill and woods are sometimes known as "Clermiston Hill" and "Clermiston Woods".
On the top are two radio masts, and also a tower dedicated to Sir Walter Scott. There is also some evidence of ancient settlement here, possibly a hillfort of some kind. Cup marks have been found on the hill.
External links
- Friends of Corstorphine Hill homepage with information on the geology, botany, and archaeology of the area.
Categories:- Hills of Edinburgh
- Nature reserves in Scotland
- Edinburgh geography stubs
- Scottish protected area stubs
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