Seating at Cockpit Hole

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Seating at Cockpit Hole by Sean Davis as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Seating at Cockpit Hole

Image: © Sean Davis Taken: 22 May 2009

Cockpit Hole is surrounded by a metal fence as it is deep and a lot larger than it first looks. In 2008 the hole was spruced up with access provided by steps to wooden walkways and viewing areas above and around a pond. Whether or not it has been stocked with fish I could not see. The origin of the hole is somewhat sketchy, but one explanation below comes from the "Geological Sites" section of the Prestwood Nature website. "Swallow-holes occur most commonly in the hard limestones on the north and west of Britain, but similar phenomena occasionally manifest themselves in the chalk regions. They occur where underground water has worn channels through the chalk and the chalk above them has gradually weathered away, suddenly giving way so that the overlaying clay falls into a huge hole. These swallow-holes can be differentiated from quarries by the fact that their sides are steep all the way round, ie there is no graded access to cart out excavated material. A good example can be seen near the north edge of Atkins Wood. The large depression known as Cockpit Hole in Great Kingshill may also have had its origin in this way, as it is too deep and steep-sided to have ever been useful as a pond, and (contrary to legend) was never used as pit for cock-fighting."

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Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
51.675154
Longitude
-0.726955