For other uses, see Blue Bell Hill (disambiguation).
Natural feature in Kent, England
Blue Bell Hill
Type
Nature reserve
Location
Aylesford, Kent
OS grid
TQ743621
Area
5 hectares (12 acres)
Managed by
Kent Wildlife Trust
Blue Bell Hill
The High Speed 1 tunnel portal, under the North Downs at Blue Bell Hill
Highest point
Elevation
160 m (520 ft)
Prominence
c. 30 m
Geography
Location
North Downs, England
OS grid
TQ740625
Topo map
OS Landranger 188
Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. Settlements on the hill include the Walderslade suburb of Chatham and the villages of Blue Bell Hill and Kit's Coty. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries much of the hill was quarried for chalk.[1]
The hill is a 5-hectare (12-acre) nature reserve which is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.[2] It is also part of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty[3] and Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Sites of Special Scientific Interest[4] and is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.[5]
A picnic area serves as a rest point for walkers on the North Downs Way which runs along the top of the hill, whilst the prehistoric trackway of the Pilgrims' Way skirts its foot. A modern crematorium also surmounts the hill.
The A229 dual carriageway follows the route of a former Roman road and climbs the hill, today linking the M2 and M20 motorways. High Speed 1 runs beneath the hill, via the North Downs Tunnel, and archaeological work in advance of it uncovered a Neolithic long house on its slopes. The Bluebell Hill transmitting station is on the hill,[6] as is the Lower Bell pub.[7] The Upper Bell pub was closed around March 2005 due to the reduced demand caused by the closure of a slip-lane onto the southbound A229, and then demolished in 2013.[citation needed]
^Panoramic view from the hill Archived 10 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine
^"Blue Bell Hill". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^"Blue Bell Hill Picnic Site". Kent Downs AONB. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^"Designated Sites View: Wouldham to Detling Escarpment". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
^Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 118. ISBN 0521 21403 3.
^"Bluebell Hill". UK Free TV. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
^"History". Blue Bell Hill Trust. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
BlueBellHill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs...
BlueBell may refer to: BlueBell, Pennsylvania, United States BlueBell, South Dakota, United States The BlueBell, one of the "blue" public houses and...
road that ran from Rochester to Hastings. The road is well known for BlueBellHill, which connects Rochester to Maidstone through the North Downs, and...
Ireland Bluebell Lakes, five fishing lakes near Peterborough, England BlueBellHill, a hill between Rochester and Maidstone, Kent, England Bluebell, Utah, United...
The Lower Bell is a pub on the A229 BlueBellHill, between Chatham and Maidstone in Kent. It is located at the edge of the North Downs where the A229...
studio facility. The SL 4000 G+ from Eden Studios is now in use at BlueBellHill in Kent, England. SL 4000 G+ previously used at Real World Studios and...
10,000 (as of 2011), with the main settlements at Aylesford, Eccles, BlueBellHill and (part of) Walderslade. Aylesford Newsprint was a long-established...
also known as the BlueBellHill Tunnel, is a railway tunnel that carries High Speed 1 through the North Downs, at BlueBellHill near Maidstone in Kent...
Coffin and the Table Stone, is a large sarsen stone at the foot of BlueBellHill near Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Now lying...
separate clusters: one to the west of the River Medway and the other on BlueBellHill to the east, with the distance between the two clusters measuring at...
former Methodist church built in 1889 at the junction of Pym Street and BlueBellHill in Nottingham. The foundation stones were laid on Tuesday 6 November...
the southern extremities of Walderslade and Lordswood at the top of BlueBellHill. The M2 and M20 motorways cross the parish to the north and south of...
"Phantom Hitch-Hiker" stories where the road passes the Lower Bell pub at BlueBellHill Belchen Tunnel (the "white woman" of the Belchen Tunnel, Switzerland)...
cliffs of the Isle of Wight and the quarries and motorway cuttings at BlueBellHill, Kent, (which has been classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest)...