Buckland Hill is a low hill in the

Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...

in the county of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Sitting transversely across the

Usk valley Usk () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks the ancient cro ...

between the river and the village of

Bwlch is a village and an electoral ward in the community of Cwmdu and District, Powys, south Wales. The settlement is strung out along the A40 road which crosses a low col above the Usk Valley at this point on its route between Brecon and Crickhowe ...

, it provides excellent panoramic views down the valley and across to the Black Mountains. The summit at 316m above sea level is marked by an OS

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...

though this is now within a dense conifer plantation and so no longer affords any outward views.

Buckland Hall Buckland may refer to: People *Buckland (surname) Places Australia * Buckland, Queensland, a rural locality in the Central Highlands Region * Buckland, Tasmania, a rural locality * Buckland County, New South Wales * Buckland River (Victoria) * ...

sits at the foot of the hill's afforested northwestern side.

Geology

The upper parts of the hill are formed from sandstones and mudstones of the Brownstones Formation of the

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

laid down during the lower

Devonian Period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding C ...

. Small outcrops of this sandstone have been quarried on the hills northeastern flanks. The lower slopes are formed in the slightly older sandstones of the Senni Formation.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 214 'Talgarth' & accompanying sheet explanation

Access

The eastern slopes of the hill are crossed hy a handful of public footpaths whilst parts are mapped as

open country "Open Country" is a designation used for some access land in England and Wales. It was first defined under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (and extended by the Countryside Act 1968), and was land over which an appropr ...

and therefore available for walkers to roam at will. Minor public roads gives access from the village.

References

External links

images of Buckland Hill and surrounds from Geograph website
{{Authority control Brecon Beacons Mountains and hills of Powys