{{Infobox SSSI , image= OldWinchesterHill.JPG , image_caption = , name= Old Winchester Hill , aos= Hampshire , interest=Biological , gridref={{gbmappingsmall, SU 642 208 , area= {{convert, 66.2, ha, acre, abbr=off , notifydate= 1986 , ma
''Magic Map''
Old Winchester Hill is a {{convert, 66.2 , ha, acre, abbr=off, adj=on 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 of ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

.{{cite web, url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000413&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= , title=Designated Sites View: Old Winchester Hill, series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest, publisher=Natural England, access-date = 16 May 2020{{cite web, url=https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000413%27 , title=Map of Old Winchester Hill, series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest, publisher=Natural England, access-date= 16 May 2020 It is a

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...

site, Grade I, and a national nature reserve. Part of it is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Location

Despite its name the hill is around {{convert, 11, mi, km from

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

; it is however part of the

Winchester-East Meon Anticline The Winchester-East Meon Anticline is one of a series of parallel east–west trending folds in the Cretaceous chalk of Hampshire. It lies at the western end of the South Downs, immediately to the north of the Hampshire Basin and south-east of Sa ...

. It lies to the east of

Corhampton Corhampton is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies on the western bank of the River Meon. It forms a civil parish with Meonstoke which adjoins it on the eastern bank. It is in the civil parish of Corhampton and Meonstoke. Archaeology Bronz ...

on the eastern side of the Meon Valley, opposite Beacon Hill. The

South Downs Way The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...

and

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Sus ...

long distance footpaths cross the summit of the hill, which reaches {{convert, 197, m, ft. About 2 kilometres to the northeast is another prominent hill,

Henwood Down Henwood Down is one of the highest points in the county of Hampshire, England, and in the South Downs, reaching a height of above sea level. Its prominence of 64 metres qualifies it as a Tump. Henwood Down rises about 1 mile west of the villag ...

(201 m), above the village of

East Meon East Meon is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is west of Petersfield. The village is located in the Meon Valley approximately north of Portsmouth and southwest of London, on the headwaters ...

. In March 2009, it became part of the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

Archaeology

Old Winchester Hill Digital Terrain Model

On the summit of the hill is an Iron Age hill fort. Within the hill fort can also be found

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

barrows. The barrows date from between 4500 and 3,500 BCE whilst the fort itself is believed to be

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

in origin. It was probably built in the Early or early-Middle Iron Age (600-300 BCE) and fell out of use around the beginning of the Late Iron Age (150-100 BCE), as this is the general pattern for hillforts in the southeast of England. More modern archaeology dates from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

used the hill as a mortar testing range. Some unexploded

Ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...

may still remain in 'fenced-off' sections of the hill however grazing hill-sheep access all areas so danger to the casual walker is likely to be low.{{cite web , url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?NNR_ID=123 , title=Old Winchester Hill NNR , year=1998 , work=

English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environmen ...

, access-date=2 October 2018 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041225205324/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?NNR_ID=123 , archive-date=25 December 2004 , url-status=live

Wildlife

The hill is the Site of Special Scientific Interest and a national nature reserve managed by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. This unimproved

chalk downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

is home to a number of butterfly species, including the

Adonis blue The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, T ...

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 ...

common blue The common blue butterfly or European common blue (''Polyommatus icarus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic. Butterflies in the Polyommatinae are collectively ...

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. Description in Seit ...

Essex skipper __NOTOC__ ''Thymelicus lineola'', known in Europe as the Essex skipper and in North America as the European skipper, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. With a wingspan of 2.5 to 2.9 cm, it is very similar in appearance to ...

, marbled white,

meadow brown The meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina'') is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasse ...

, silver-spotted skipper,

small heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

small skipper The small skipper (''Thymelicus sylvestris'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Appearance It has a rusty orange colour to the wings, upper body and the tips of the antennae. The body is silvery white below and it has a wingspan of 25� ...

, and the speckled wood. There is also a diverse bird population, including the

European green woodpecker The European green woodpecker (''Picus viridis'') is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the ...

, commonly seen feeding amongst the many anthills (which are also very important for the lifecycle of the

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

butterflies) and the turtle dove. Many species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

can be found on the hill or in the immediate vicinity including the

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

, bee and

frog orchid ''Coeloglossum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It has long been considered to have only one species, ''Coeloglossum viride'', the frog orchid. Some recent classifications regard ''Coeloglossum'' as part of the ...

s.{{cite web , url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/OldWinchesterHill.pdf , title=Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve working today for nature tomorrow , year=2003 , access-date=2 October 2018 , work=

, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230234131/https://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/OldWinchesterHill.pdf , archive-date=30 December 2008 , pages=1–4

References

{{reflist {{commons category, Old Winchester Hill {{coord, 50.98102, N, 1.08814, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SU643205), display=title {{SSSIs Hampshire {{Iron Age hillforts in England Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire National nature reserves in England Hills of Hampshire Hill forts in Hampshire Nature Conservation Review sites