North Hill is the second highest point of the range of

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...

that runs about north-south along the

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

border, although North Hill lies entirely within Worcestershire. It has an elevation of , making it the highest point of the

Worcestershire Way The Worcestershire Way is a waymarked long-distance trail within the county of Worcestershire, England. It runs from Bewdley to Great Malvern. History When launched back in 1989 the Worcestershire Way was long and ran partly into Herefords ...

. The eastern flank of the hill lies directly behind Worcester road in

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and i ...

from where its summit is a brisk 15 – 20 minutes steep walk from the town centre via St Ann's road and Happy Valley. A path from the car park in North Malvern follows the lower contour of North Hill to Happy Valley and St. Ann's Well.

History

Although the flint route from

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

lay to the north of Malvern, there is some evidence to suggest that traders passed over the Malvern Hills. Parts of an

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

, scraper and flint flakes have been discovered between the North Hill and Table Hill. A 19th-century guide book describes both a collapsed burial mound on North Hill named the Giant's Grave and a tump on Table Hill. These

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

may have been connected to the

Dobunni The Dobunni were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. Various historians and archaeologists have examined ...

settlement in Mathon.Smith, B.S: 1978 ''A History of Malvern'' Allan Sutton and The Malvern Bookshop A track that runs along North Hill was known as the "

Pyx A pyx or pix ( la, pyxis, transliteration of Greek: ''πυξίς'', boxwood receptacle, from ''πύξος'', box tree) is a small round container used in the Catholic, Old Catholic and Anglican Churches to carry the consecrated host (Eucharist) ...

Path" and was used by the priest from

when bringing Sacrament to the

hermits A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

that lived in Malvern in the 11th Century. It was also referred to as the "Pixie Path", as it was believed to be used by fairies.Severn Burrow, C.F: 1948, ''A little city set on the hill: the story of Malvern'' The Lodge spring can be found at the foot of North Hill, off Worcester road. The ornamental fountain has a small spout and basin that is similar in design to those at St Ann's Well.Bruce Osborne & Cora Weaver: 1994, ''Aquae Malvernensis – The Springs and Fountains of the Malvern Hills''

Folklore

In ''Early British Trackways, Moats, Mounds, Camps, and Sites''

Alfred Watkins Alfred Watkins (27 January 1855 – 15 April 1935) was an English author, self-taught amateur archaeologist, antiquarian and businessman who, while standing on a hillside in Herefordshire, England, in 1921 experienced a revelation. He noticed ...

theorised that North Hill was the beginning of a

ley line Ley lines () are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient soci ...

to Pen-y-Beacon via Mathon Church, Moat at Birchend, Stretton Grandison Church, Shucknell Hill, White Stone Chapel, Burcot Pool, Ten Houses Pond and Sugwas Park.Watkins, A. 1921
Early British Trackways, Moats, Mounds, Camps, and Sites
'.

The Worcestershire Way

When launched back in 1989 the

was long and ran partly into

. The route and its length were modified in 2004 and it now runs wholly within Worcestershire. The last few miles of the Way now ascend to the northern part of the Malvern Hills and skirt around the contours of End Hill, Table Hill and along Lady Howard de Walden's Drive on North Hill, before descending to Great Malvern via St Ann's Well.Malvern – The Worcestershire Way
Worcester News Tuesday 23 December 2008

References

External links

Panoramic view from North Hill

Panoramic view of the North Malvern Clock Tower

Walks on the Northern Hills
{{The Malvern Hills Marilyns of England Hills of Worcestershire Malvern Hills Malvern, Worcestershire