Hensbarrow Beacon is a hill

Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is situated a mile north-west of Stenalees village at .

The natural summit of Hensbarrow Beacon is 312m high and is marked by a trig point

Trig point

A triangulation station, also known as a triangulation pillar, trigonometrical station, trigonometrical point, trig station, trig beacon or trig point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity...

. It can be reached by a short walk from the road to the west. However, the summit is overtopped by several large spoil heaps from the nearby china clay workings, the highest of which rises to 355m, therefore creating an 'artificial' summit 43m higher than the natural one.

Geographically, the hill is the highest point of the St Austell Downs, a large region of downland to the north-west of St Austell

St Austell

St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...

. The large degree of separation between it and Bodmin Moor

Bodmin Moor

Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in northeastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in size, and originally dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history....

 to the north-east gives it enough relative height to make it a Marilyn

Marilyn (hill)

A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Isle of Man with a relative height of at least 150 metres , regardless of absolute height or other merit...

 (its parent is Brown Willy

Brown Willy

Brown Willy is a hill in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The summit is the highest point of Bodmin Moor and of Cornwall as a whole....

).

The medieval Blackmoor Stannary

Stannary

The word stannary is historically applied to:*A tin mine, especially in Cornwall or Devon, South West England*A region containing tin works *A chartered entity comprising such a region, its works, and its workers...

 was centred at Hensbarrow Beacon, with its records stored at the church in Luxulyan

Luxulyan

Luxulyan , also spelled Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles northeast of St Austell and six miles south of Bodmin...

.