{{Short description|UK Site of Special Scientific Interest}} {{distinguish|Bredon Hill}} {{Infobox SSSI |image= Public Footpath from the Church to the Village, Breedon on the Hill - geograph.org.uk - 930437.jpg |image_caption = |name= Breedon Hill |aos= Leicestershire |interest=Biological |gridref={{gbmappingsmall| SK 404 232 }}<ref name=dsv/> |area= 5.3 hectares<ref name=dsv/> |notifydate= 1983<ref name=dsv/> |map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271003447%27 ''Magic Map''] }} '''Breedon Hill''' is a {{convert|5.3|hectare|acre|adj=on}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] on the northern outskirts of [[Breedon on the Hill]] in [[Leicestershire]].<ref name=dsv>{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1003447&SiteName=breedon&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=|title=Designated Sites View: Breedon Hill | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate = 17 September 2017}}</ref><ref name=map>{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271003447%27 |title=Map of Breedon Hill|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate= 17 September 2017}}</ref>
==Geography== This is the largest area of species rich [[carboniferous limestone]] in the county. Herbs include [[bulbous buttercup]], [[harebell]], [[burnet saxifrage]], [[musk thistle]] and [[hairy violet]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003447.pdf |title=Breedon Hill citation|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=17 September 2017}}</ref>
The site is crossed by a footpath from the village to the church.
==Etymology== The name ''Breedon'' is first attested in Bede's ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'' of 731, in the form {{lang|ang|Briudun}} and {{lang|ang|Breadun}}. Here the name refers to the settlement now known as ''Breedon on the Hill'', but the settlement evidently took its name from the hill on which it stands, which must once simply have been called ''Breedon'': the first element of the name derives from [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] *''breɣ'' ("hill"). This word, whose literal meaning was presumably not understood by Old English-speakers, was borrowed into [[Old English]] as a name for the hill, with the addition for clarification of the Old English word {{lang|ang|dūn}} (also meaning "hill"). When the word {{lang|ang|dūn}} ceased to be understood to mean "hill", and perhaps also to distinguish the hill from the settlement which took its name, the element ''Hill'' was added.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780521168557 |editor-last=Watts |editor-first=Victor |location=Cambridge}}, s.v. ''Breedon on the Hill''.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=A.D. |year=2003 |title=A Dictionary of British Place Names |location=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-852758-6 }}, s.v. ''Breedon on the Hill''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Leicestershire/Breedon+on+the+Hill|title=Key to English Place-names|website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk|access-date=15 August 2021|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815082547/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Leicestershire/Breedon+on+the+Hill|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{coord| 52.804| -1.402 |type:landmark_region:GB-BNE|display=title}} {{SSSIs Leicestershire }} [[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire]]