Hingston Down

Hingston Down is a hill near Gunnislake near Callington in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

This is possibly the Hingston Down mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which says that in 835 (corrected by scholars to 838) Egbert king of the West Saxons defeated an army of Vikings and Cornish at "Hengestdun" = "Stallion Hill". A more likely site for this battle is now thought to be at Hingston Down near Moretonhampstead in Devon as mentioned in Cornish World Magazine in Oct 2007. [Cornish World Magazine - Oct 2007 - Craig Weatherill] This is thought to be the more likely location as it was nearly a full century later in 936 when King Athelstan fixed the east bank of the River Tamar as the boundary between Anglo-Saxon Wessex and Celtic Cornwall. [Philip Payton. (1996). "Cornwall". Fowey: Alexander Associates] Up until 927 the two peoples had lived together in Devon and Exeter "aequo jure" = "by equal law". [William of Malmesbury - "Gesta regum Anglorum" about 1120] [Professor Philip Payton 2004 - "Cornwall - A History"] .

There is a quarry there, [ [http://www.mindat.org/loc-880.html Hingston Down Quarry, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK ] ] and the Hingston Downs Consols mine is the type locality for the mineral Arthurite [ [http://www.mindat.org/loc-879.html Hingston Down Consols, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK ] ] , which was discovered here. [cite book |last=Embrey |first=P. G. |authorlink= |coauthors= Symes, R. F. |title= Minerals of Cornwall and Devon |origdate= |origyear= 1987 |publisher= British Museum (Natural History)|location= London|language= |isbn= 0565009893|oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= p.58|chapter= The mines and mining ]

ee also

*Hingston Down, Devon
*Kit Hill Country Park

References