Saturday, March 09, 2013

Brent Knoll (450 feet) - the Mount of Frogs

From the Wikipedia article:

"Brent Knoll has seen human settlement since at least the Bronze Age. Brent Knoll Camp is an Iron Age hill fort, with multiple ramparts following the contours of the hill, broken only by the main entrance on the eastern side.

Before the Somerset Levels were drained, Brent Knoll was an island, known as the Isle (or Mount) of Frogs, that provided a safe haven from the water and marshes. According to legend, Ider son of Nuth, who was one of King Arthur's knights, came to the Mount of Frogs on a quest to slay three giants who lived there. The fort has been claimed as the site of the Battle of Badon."

The route (or Way, or El Camino de Brent Knoll) starts at a public footpath to the right of St. Michael's Church, Church Lane (TA9 4DG gets you near enough). The path is always obvious (it's uphill) but the clay was rather slippery in places this morning, after a night's rain. The view from the top would have been spectacular had we done the walk this afternoon (it's bright sunshine as I write this). For us though this morning, things were suitably murky.

We parked at the village hall, where a bazaar was in in progress (tea, coffee, cakes!) at 11.20 am. We were debating whether to inflict our muddy selves on our return at 12.30 pm but they had closed at noon. The last volunteers were loading the remains of the morning into their waiting car.

Clare on the way up


Girl on top (the trig point)


It's a neolithic hill fort


A view of the A38 and the Garden Centre


The author in the mist