The Devil's Punch Bowl and Hindhead Commons

2011-06-29 · Free entry

The Punch Bowl was formed by springs cutting down and back into the soft rock and is the largest spring-formed feature in Britain. The process can still be seen occurring around the springs in the bottom of the bowl. Until the 1930s the bowl was inhabited by 'broom squires' who made brooms from the surrounding birch trees. The slopes of the Devil's Punch Bowl (a large natural amphitheatre) are covered with heath small streams and areas of woodland. Hindhead Commons covering 647.5 ha (1600 acres) comprise some of the most extensive areas of lowland heath in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) of importance for its large expanses of undeveloped countryside.