Brill Hill EarthCache
Hidden : 8/9/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

A wonderful view with a long industrial history , all shaped by the underlying geology .

Hopefully you will arrived at the posted coordinates which are also the parking . This is the view that you will see immediately in front of you.


In the early seventeenth century Brill was described as:
A town well graced with many fair houses and good buildings, and the best yeomen of any one town in the shire, delicately situated upon a fertile, fruitful hill in the midst of the Forest, and blessed with all kinds of commodities, as corn, hay, grass, herbs and roots, wells and springs… And the earth within serving for the best brick and all earthen vessels… (Description of Brill, written in 1622, being part of a letter written to King James I.)

The area before you is a mass of hollows and hillocks . The reason for this lies in the underlying geology.

The diagram below is a cross section through Brill Hill.


The Whitchurch sand cap was laid down 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous period . At it’s thickest it is 20 metres and comprises a variably coloured unconsolidated medium to coarse grained sand with seams of irregular limonite sandstone . Mudstone horizons are common , often rich in a clay called kaolinite. The mudstones and sandstones can contain plant material and freshwater fossils suggesting a non marine origin.
This sand proved to be good for the making of tiles and later bricks. The hollows are the remains of old workings, the tiles and bricks would have been made and fired in situ . The windmill is the only survivor of three that once stood on this hill.
This sketch of the geology between Brill and Stone shows where other outliers of Whitchurch Sand can be found .

Follow this short trail around the Common and answer the questions by e mail to me . A photo of yourself at any one of the spots would be appreciated but is not a logging requirement.
Cattle are grazed on the common , they are fenced with electric fencing which should be respected. Where public footpaths cross these areas there are access points.
Question 1. Go to waypoint 1 . Describe the feature you can see in the top of the wall.
Question 2 : Go to waypoint 2 . Describe the stone in the wall at this point, what sort of stone do you think it is?
Question 3: Go to waypoint 3. Describe the stone at the base of the wall , when do you think this stone was laid down and how old is it?
Question 4: Moving away from the buildings go to waypoint 4 and find a shepherd of the common sheep. How old was he when he passed away ?
At stage 5 there is an interesting building and information boards which tell you more about the area.
Finally question 5: Go to waypoint 6 , what is the height of the hill at this point? Using an OS map of by going to N51 49.565 W01 05.120 you can work out the height of the western slope of the hill at this point. What is it ?
There are quite a few other caches in the village together with shops and a pub .
I would like to acknowledge the help of Eyers, J Rocks of the Chilterns.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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