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 "ham ...

Buttermere Buttermere is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. Historically in Cumberland, the lake is now within the county of Cumbria. Owned by the National Trust, it forms pa ...

, 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 of ...

, 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), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

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. It ...

(''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, or features of geological o ...

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 ''Asperula cynanchica'', the 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 southern and centra ...

(''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 ...

(''Campanula glomerata''), autumn gentian (''gentianella amarella''), chalk milkwort (''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 clumps ...

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

(''Campanula glomerata'' and autumn gentian (''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 ''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 ...

(''Coeloglossum viride''), burnt orchid (''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 Greek words ( ...

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

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in s ...

s found here include the liverwort '' Leiocolea turbinata'' and the mosses '' Ctenidium molluscum'', '' Dicranella varia'', '' Weissia microstoma'' and '' Entodon concinnus''. A colony of the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

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'' (bramb ...

(''Callophrys rubi''),

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

(''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. Description in Seit ...

(''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'', common names the Roman snail, Burgundy snail, or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod terrestrial mollusc in the family Helicidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Heli ...

(''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