Ham Hill is a hill and area of chalk downland in Wiltshire, England, on the steep banks running alongside the road from the village of

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

Buttermere Buttermere is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. It has a length of approximately and a maximum width of , an area of , a maximum depth of , and a surface elevation of above sea level. Its primary outflow is Buttermere Dubs, a ...

, close to the Berkshire border. A

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, notified in 1971, covers 1.5

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s of the site; this designation is due to the site's species-rich plant and insect communities, which include some rare species. Notable among these is the

musk orchid ''Herminium monorchis'', the musk orchid, is a commonly occurring species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe and northern Asia from France to Japan, including China, Siberia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, etc. I ...

(''Herminium monorchis''), which has been confirmed at only one other site in Wiltshire. The site is managed as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity based in Devizes, England which owns and manages 40 nature reserves in Wiltshire and Swindon. It also works to encourage Wiltshire's communities to live sustainable lifestyles that protect the e ...

. It is managed by grazing with sheep to prevent scrub encroachment and takeover by rank vegetation, which would otherwise crowd out the scarce plant species.Ham Hill Nature Reserve

(accessed 1 March 2022)

Biological interest

The hillsides at this site have short, herb-rich grassland, and the flatter areas, taller vegetation. The main species in the plant communities here are

upright brome ''Bromus erectus'', commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to . Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The specific epithet ''erectus'' is Latin, meaning "erect". ...

(''Bromus erectus''),

sheep's fescue ''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla''). General description It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...

(''Festuca ovina''), quaking-grass (''Briza media''), and downland herbs such as burnet-saxifrage (''Pimpinella saxifraga''), salad-burnet (''Sanguisorba minor''), common milkwort (''Polygala vulgaris'') and dwarf thistle (''Cirsium acaule'').Natural England citation sheet for the site
(accessed 1 March 2022) Other plant species found include

squinancywort ''Cynanchica pyrenaica'', commonly known as squinancywort or squincywort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. Its common name is derived from its former use as a medicinal herb to cure quinsy. It is native to much of souther ...

(''Asperula cynanchica''). A wide range of typical chalk downland specialists are found at Ham Hill including

clustered bellflower ''Campanula glomerata'', known by the common names clustered bellflower or Dane's blood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Campanula'', belonging to the family Campanulaceae. It is the county flower of Rutland, England. Etymology T ...

(''Campanula glomerata''),

autumn gentian ''Gentianella amarella'', the autumn gentian, autumn dwarf gentian, or autumn felwort, is a short biennial plant flowering plant in the gentian family, Gentianaceae. It is found throughout Northern Europe, the western and northern United States, ...

(''gentianella amarella''),

chalk milkwort ''Polygala calcarea'', the chalk milkwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Polygalaceae, native plant, native to western Europe. It is a delicate mat-forming evergreen perennial plant, perennial growing to tall by ...

(''Polygala vulgaris''),

horseshoe vetch ''Hippocrepis comosa'', the horseshoe vetch, is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus '' Hippocrepis'' in the family Fabaceae. Description The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clump ...

(''Hippocrepis comosa'') and common rockrose (''Helianthemum nummularium''). Both

(''Campanula glomerata'' and

(''gentianella amarella'') are abundant. This is one of only two confirmed sites in Wiltshire for

(''Herminium monorchis'').Pilkington, Sharon (2007) Wiltshire Rare Plant Register (The rare and threatened vascular plants of North and South Wiltshire) Seven other species of orchids are presented including

frog orchid ''Dactylorhiza viridis'', the frog orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It has also been treated as the only species ''Coeloglossum viride'' of the monotypic genus ''Coeloglossum''. Description The plant ari ...

(''Coeloglossum viride''),

burnt orchid ''Neotinea ustulata'' ( syn. ''Orchis ustulata''), the burnt orchid or burnt-tip orchid, is a European terrestrial orchid native to mountains in central and southern Europe, growing at up to elevation. The plant is considered Endangered in Great ...

(''Orchis ustulata'') and

fragrant orchid ''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe. Etymology The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from Ancient Greek, G ...

(''Gymnadenia conopsea''). Chalk-grassland

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

s found here include the liverwort '' Leiocolea turbinata'' and the mosses ''

Ctenidium molluscum ''Ctenidium molluscum'' is a species of moss belonging to the family Hypnaceae. It is native to Eurasia and Northern America. References

Hypnaceae {{hypnales-stub ...

'', '' Dicranella varia'', '' Weissia microstoma'' and ''

Entodon concinnus ''Entodon concinnus'' is a species of moss belonging to the family Entodontaceae. It has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the E ...

''. A colony of the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

butterflies (''Hamearis lucina'') is present and other butterfly species associated with chalk flora include

green hairstreak The green hairstreak (''Callophrys rubi'') is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Etymology The genus name ''Callophrys'' is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name ''rubi'' derives from ''Rubus'' (brambl ...

(''Callophrys rubi''),

dingy skipper The dingy skipper (''Erynnis tages'') is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. Description ''Erynnis tages'' is different from other skippers because of the predominantly monochrome, gray-brown wing coloration and the marbling, which ...

(''Erynnis tages''),

dark green fritillary The dark green fritillary (''Speyeria aglaja'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Taxonomy The dark g ...

(''Argynnis aglaja'') and

chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

(''Lysandra coridon''). The Roman snail (''Helix pomatia''), the largest snail species to be found in Britain, occurs here.

References

External links

Ham Hill
- Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Natural England website
(SSSI information) {{SSSIs Wilts biological Hills of Wiltshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserves