Beacon Hill
Encyclopedia
Beacon Hill is a name shared by many hills, suburbs, villages and other places around the world. Many are so called because they were historically the site of a warning beacon
. Others are named after other places of the same name.
Here are a few of them:
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
. Others are named after other places of the same name.
In the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has many Beacon Hills. Most of them take their name from their use as sites for warning beacons as part of Britain's early warning system in Elizabethan times, when they were lit to warn of the coming of the Spanish Armada.Here are a few of them:
- Beacon Hill, BuckinghamshireBeacon Hill, BuckinghamshireThe hamlet of Beacon Hill, is situated off the B474 near Penn and on the outskirts of High Wycombe Buckinghamshire. Nearby is the Golf Course at Wycombe Heights....
, a village in Buckinghamshire - Beacon Hill, Frodsham, Cheshire (see FrodshamFrodshamFrodsham is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population is 8,982. It is approximately south of Runcorn, 16 miles south of Liverpool, and approximately south-west of Manchester...
) - Beacon Hill, Paignton, the highest point in the unitary authority of TorbayTorbayTorbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...
, Devon- Beacon Hill transmitting station
- Beacon Hill, DorsetBeacon Hill, DorsetBeacon Hill is one of the highest viewpoints in the hinterland of Poole Harbour, Dorset. Historically it was one of a series of beacons used to warn of the advancing Spanish Armada. The earlier name for the hill was Lytchett Beacon....
, in the hinterland of Poole, Dorset - Beacon Hill, Burghclere, HampshireBeacon Hill, Burghclere, HampshireBeacon Hill is near the village of Burghclere and Watership Down, in north Hampshire. The hill's name is derived from the fact that it was one of many Beacon Hills in England and beyond. This hill was once the site of the most famous beacon in Hampshire. It is 261 metres high and has one of...
, a hill fort - Beacon Hill, Warnford, HampshireBeacon Hill, Warnford, HampshireBeacon Hill, Warnford, Hampshire is a chalk hill in the South Downs on the boundary of the parishes of Warnford and Exton. Part of the hill is a National Nature Reserve and biological SSSI, first notified in 1979.The hill-Location:...
, a 201m (659 foot) hill in Hampshire - Beacon Hill, LeicestershireBeacon Hill, LeicestershireBeacon Hill, near Loughborough, in Leicestershire, England, is a popular country park. It is one of several beacon hills in the United Kingdom.The park consists of of grassland and woodland and offers recreational walking, and some short climbs...
, a country park in Leicestershire - Beacon Hill, Lincolnshire in the Lincolnshire WoldsLincolnshire WoldsThe Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
- Beacon Hill, MonmouthshireBeacon Hill, MonmouthshireBeacon Hill is the highest hill in eastern Monmouthshire, South Wales. It is located due east of the village of Trellech, and north-west of Llandogo. Its crowning point at 306m / 1006ft above sea level is marked by an Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar...
, a 306m (1,003 foot) hill near MonmouthMonmouthMonmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
near the Welsh-English border - Beacon Hill, NorfolkBeacon Hill, NorfolkBeacon Hill is the highest point in the English county of Norfolk. The hill is located south of the village of West Runton on the North Norfolk coast. At its summit the hill is above sea level. The hill is also known as Roman Camp. The summit and surrounding woodlands are now in the care of the...
, the highest point (105m)(344 feet) in the county of Norfolk - Beacon Hill, Colkirk, NorfolkBeacon Hill, Colkirk, NorfolkBeacon Hill, Colkirk, Norfolk is a high point, once the site of a beacon forming part of a chain from the North Norfolk Coast to London. The approximate location of the Beacon is two kilometres to the west of the village of Colkirk, N52:48:15 E0:49:29....
, a high point (89m (291 feet) in mid Norfolk - Beacon Hill, Wollaston, NorthamptonshireWollaston, NorthamptonshireWollaston is a large village in the borough of Wellingborough. in Eastern Northamptonshire, England. The name is derived from the Saxon "Wulfaf's Town" - named after a Saxon chief of that name.-Wollaston Today:...
- Beacon Hill, Morpeth, NorthumberlandMorpeth, NorthumberlandMorpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...
- Beacon Hill, PowysBeacon Hill, PowysBeacon Hill is a hill in central Powys, Wales, located north-west of the town of Knighton. Its summit is above sea level.- External links :*...
, a 547m hill near Knighton near the Welsh-English border - Beacon Hill, RottingdeanRottingdeanRottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West... - Beacon Hill, SedgleyBeacon Hill, SedgleyBeacon Hill in Sedgley, England, is one of the highest points in the West Midlands, at 777 feet or 237 metres above sea level.From the summit, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham are all visible, as is the Staffordshire and Shropshire countryside to the west...
, known as the Sedgley Beacon, it is the second-highest point in the West Midlands at 237m (778 ft) - Beacon Hill, Surrey, a settlement near HindheadHindheadHindhead is a village in Surrey, England, about 11 miles south-west of Guildford. Neighbouring settlements include Haslemere, Grayshott and Beacon Hill. Hindhead is the highest village in Surrey...
, Surrey - Beacon Hill, one of the Lickey Hills in Worcestershire
- Beacon Hill School (England), one of three schools in the UK with the name Beacon Hill
- Beacon Hill, WalsallWalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, a 236m hill near WalsallWalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
known as Barr BeaconBarr BeaconBarr Beacon is a hill on the edge of Walsall, West Midlands, England, very near the border with Birmingham. It gives its name to nearby Great Barr and to the local school Barr Beacon Language College. It is historically the site of a beacon where fires were lit in times of impending attack or on...
In the United States
- Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, a neighborhood of Boston
- Metonymically, the Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General CourtThe Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
(the state legislature) which meets there.
- Metonymically, the Massachusetts General Court
- Beacon Hill (Branford, Connecticut)Beacon Hill (Branford, Connecticut)Beacon Hill, above sea level, is a traprock outcrop located southeast of New Haven, Connecticut overlooking the mouth of the East Haven River 1.2 miles north of Long Island Sound...
, the southernmost summit of the Metacomet Ridge - Beacon Hill of New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, which contains Fort Wooster Park - Beacon Hill, Kansas City, Missouri, a neighborhood in Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
- Beacon Hill, New JerseyBeacon Hill, New JerseyBeacon Hill is an unincorporated area within the Morganville section of Marlboro, New Jersey. Marlboro Memorial Middle School is located in this area....
, an unincorporated area within Marlboro Township, New Jersey - Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington, a hill and neighborhood in Seattle, Washington
- Beacon Hill, Spokane, Washington, a hill located to the northeast of Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, WashingtonSpokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
- Beacon Hill, Erie, PennsylvaniaErie, PennsylvaniaErie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, a neighborhood in the Erie area - Beacon Hill, Leesburg, VirginiaLeesburg, VirginiaLeesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, a development just west of Leesburg - Beacon Hill, Chicago Heights, IllinoisChicago Heights, IllinoisChicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:...
, a neighborhood in Illinois - Beacon Hill, San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, a neighborhood two miles north-northwest of downtown San Antonio, Texas - Beacon Hill, a hill and neighborhood located in southern Fairfax County, VirginiaFairfax County, VirginiaFairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
near the former Beacon Field AirportBeacon Field AirportBeacon Field Airport was an airport located in the Groveton area of Fairfax County, Virginia, from the 1920s until its closure in 1959. One of the nation's earliest private airports, and particularly in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, it received its name because it was the location of an...
In Canada
- Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood
- Beacon Hill ParkBeacon Hill ParkBeacon Hill Park is a 75 ha park located along the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait in Victoria, British Columbia. The park is popular both with tourists and locals, and contains a number of amenities including woodland and shoreline trails, two playgrounds, a waterpark, playing fields, a petting...
, a park in Victoria, British Columbia - Beacon Hill, SaskatchewanBeacon Hill, SaskatchewanBeacon Hill is a hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Beaver River No. 622 in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada....
- Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, QuebecBeaconsfield, QuebecBeaconsfield , 2006 Population 19,194) is a municipality on the Island of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of Lake Saint-Louis and is bordered on the west by Baie-D'Urfé, on the north by Kirkland and on the east by Pointe-Claire...
In Hong Kong
- Beacon Hill, Hong KongBeacon Hill, Hong KongBeacon Hill is a hill in the Kowloon Tong area of Hong Kong's Kowloon peninsula. It is the 65th highest hill of Hong Kong. It is 457 m tall.Beacon Hill is located within the Lion Rock Country Park.-Name:...
, a hill in the Kowloon Tong area of Hong Kong - Beacon Hill School, Hong KongBeacon Hill School, Hong KongBeacon Hill School is an international school in Hong Kong, offering primary education. The school is located near Beacon Hill in Kowloon Tong. It was founded in 1967 and is part of the English Schools Foundation. Beacon Hill School is one of the oldest ESF schools in Hong Kong and one of the...
, a primary school on Beacon Hill, Hong Kong
Other
- Beacon Hill (TV series), a short-lived drama set in the Boston neighborhood
- Beacon Hill (Amtrak)Beacon Hill (Amtrak)The Beacon Hill was a daily commuter rail service operated by Amtrak between Boston, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut. Service began in 1978; the Beacon Hill replaced the Clamdigger, an early morning service from Providence, Rhode Island to New Haven with connections to New York...
, defunct daily rail service from Boston to New Haven, USA