Top 16 Natural Monuments around Compton Bishop

The views across somerset are stunning.

Black Down Hill or Beacons Batch is the highest hill in the Mendip Hills at 325m, Somerset, in south-western England. Black Down lies just a few miles eastward of the Bristol Channel at Weston-super-Mare, and provides a view over the Chew Valley. It has a trig pointed summit and is a UK designated Marilyn with a prominence of over 150m.

A great climb! Very long, but nice and steady for the most part.

Classic Mendip climb. Just ride it!

Wavering Down is a part if the large area adjoining to Crook Peak which is a geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the western end of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Somerset. As part of the nature reserve management there are wild ponies and sheep grazing to protect the rare plants and flowers that the grassland supports. It is important to keep your dog under close control and on a lead at all times on Wavering Down and Crook Peak. Most of the site is owned by the National Trust who bought 725 acres (293 ha) in 1985, and much of it has been designated as common land. It was notified as an SSSI by Natural England in 1952. The ecology of the area includes ancient woodland and calcareous grassland which supports nationally rare species including the Cheddar pink. The underlying rocks are Carboniferous Limestone containing phreatic caves at Shute Shelve Cavern and Picken's Hole from which fossils dating from the Middle Devensian have been recovered.

This special site is designated as a Site of Special Scientific interest for its valuable wildlife habitats and is a nationally important site for its archaeology from the late Stone Age and Bronze Age through to the Second World War. Black Down provides the largest area of open access on the Mendip Hills at over 400 ha. Black Down, like most heathlands, is formed through a combination of factors– soil type, rainfall and human activity. The underlying Old Red Sandstone rock together with high rainfall created a waterlogged and acidic soil. The removal of tree cover by our Bronze Age ancestors 2,000 years ago helped to make sure that the soil stayed damp and acid. Only certain plants can survive in this type of ground. The key species include heather or ling, bell heather, bilberry, purple moor grass and European gorse, along with mosses and lichens. Now the bracken is managed by harvesting and grazing by cattle and wild ponies to allow the heathers and grasses to flourish again. Black Down supports a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.

This special site is designated as a Site of Special Scientific interest for its valuable wildlife habitats and is a nationally important site for its archaeology from the late Stone Age and Bronze Age through to the Second World War. Black Down provides the largest area of open access on the Mendip Hills at over 400 ha. Black Down, like most heathlands, is formed through a combination of factors– soil type, rainfall and human activity. The underlying Old Red Sandstone rock together with high rainfall created a waterlogged and acidic soil. The removal of tree cover by our Bronze Age ancestors 2,000 years ago helped to make sure that the soil stayed damp and acid. Only certain plants can survive in this type of ground. The key species include heather or ling, bell heather, bilberry, purple moor grass and European gorse, along with mosses and lichens. Now the bracken is managed by harvesting and grazing by cattle and wild ponies to allow the heathers and grasses to flourish again. Black Down supports a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.

Owned and managed by the National Trust and part of the same SSSI as Crook Peak, Wavering Down is an impressive hill with even more impressive views. There's a trig point at the summit and the views include a glimpse of Cheddar reservoir. Half the down is open common land whilst the other half is fields.