Hole of Horcum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hole of Horcum |
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Hole of Horcum from the North with flowering heather in the foreground, August 2017
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 Location in North Yorkshire
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| Location | North Yorkshire, England |
| OS grid | SE845935 |
| Coordinates | 54°19′53″N 0°42′04″W / 54.331266°N 0.701168°W |
The Hole of Horcum is a section of the valley of the Levisham Beck, upstream of Levisham and Lockton, in the Tabular Hills of the North York Moors National Park in northern England.
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Etymology
Early forms of the name include Hotcumbe, Holcumbe, Horcombe and Horkome. The first element of the name is Old English horh, meaning "filth," while the suffix, cumb, means "bowl-shaped valley", and is of Brittonic Celtic origin.
The Hole
The hollow is 400 feet (120 m) deep and about ¾ mile (1.2 km) across. The Hole was created by a process called spring-sapping, where water welling up from the hillside gradually undermined the slopes above, eating the rocks away grain by grain. In this way, over thousands of years, a once narrow valley widened and deepened into an enormous cauldron. The process continues today.
Legend
Local legend has it that the "Devil's Punchbowl"-type feature, the amphitheatre, was formed when Wade the Giant scooped up a handful of earth to throw at his wife during an argument.
Panoramic view
