Bardon Hill

Bardon Hill is the highest hill in Leicestershire, at 278 metres (912 ft). The hill is also a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and has been noted in literature. The second highest hill in Leicestershire is the nearby Beacon Hill. Bardon Hill was one of the twenty-three principal survey points along a meridional arc from Dunnose used in the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain to establish a precise datum for geodetic calculations and from which maps could be drawn. "Bardon" or "Bardon Hill" was also the name of a village south-west of the hill. Most of the village was demolished in the 1990s to allow expansion of the quarry, but the toponym "Bardon Hill" remains in use as the postal address of the remaining local properties. The landscape was already attracting visitors before John Curtis wrote in the 1830s: he suggests that the view extends to over 5,000 square miles (13, 000 km2) or one-twelfth of England and Wales. Potter also notes the view from Bardon Hill: It probably commands a greater extent of surface than any other point of view on the island. [...] An outline, described from the extremity of this view, would include nearly one-fourth of England and Wales. It may be deemed one of the most extraordinary points of view in Nature. This has attracted telecommunication companies, and large transmitters and radio masts have replaced both the Summer House and Queen Adelaide's Bower. In 1840, the then deer park was chosen as a picnic spot for a visit by Queen Adelaide, the Queen Dowager. T. R. Potter describes the Royal scene in The History of Charnwood Forest: Her Majesty, in a dress of elegant simplicity suited to the occasion, supported by Earl Howe, and her Royal sister (the Duchess of Saxe Weimar) by Lord Curzon, ascended the steep with great apparent ease. On arriving at the summit, upwards of an hour was spent in the enjoyment of the wonderful prospect, of which her Majesty frequently expressed her admiration – Lord Howe pointing out the many remarkable near and distinct objects which the fineness of the day brought within the reach of view. The Queen's repast was laid out on the grass on the east side of the

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