Long Knoll () is a hill in the west of the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. It is a ridge of chalk grassland, some in length, and forms the boundary between the civil parishes of Kilmington to the south and

Maiden Bradley Maiden Bradley is a village in south-west Wiltshire, England, about south-west of Warminster and bordering the county of Somerset. The B3092 road between Frome and Mere forms the village street. Bradley House, the seat of the Duke of Somerset, ...

to the north. The ridge is above sea level at its highest point and it is possible to view

King Alfred's Tower King Alfred's Tower is a folly in Somerset, England, on the edge of the border with Wiltshire, on the Stourhead estate. The tower stands on Kingsettle Hill and belongs to the National Trust. It is designated as a Grade I listed building. Hen ...

Cranmore Tower The Cranmore Tower is a tall 19th century folly in the parish of Cranmore, Somerset, England. The site is above sea level, and is the highest point on the Mendip Way. The tower was built in 1862-1864, by Thomas Henry Wyatt for John Moore Pag ...

, the Black Mountains and Glastonbury Tor on clear days. The hill is the site of the Long Knoll 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 ...

, which was notified in 1971, and is part of the

Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering of Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is the sixth largest AONB in England. The area was designated as an AONB in 1981 and confirmed i ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Long Knoll is the most westerly part of the remains of a chalk plateau. It forms a ridge that runs east and west for about a mile, and is higher than the surrounding land. The south-facing slope has a mosaic of longer and shorter turfs and has a mixture of grasses, sedges and forbs. Here grow a typical calcareous community including glaucus sedge, sheep’s-fescue,

meadow oat-grass A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

, heath-grass and common quaking-grass, together with cowslip,

salad burnet ''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has fe ...

, rock-rose,

betony Betony is a common name for a plant which may refer to: *''Stachys'', a genus of plants containing several species commonly known as betony in Europe **'' Stachys officinalis'', a historically important medicinal plant *''Pedicularis ''Pedicular ...

, small scabious and devil’s-bit scabious. Some of the less common chalk grassland herbs include

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 ...

early purple orchid ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

, horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch and

chalk milkwort ''Polygala calcarea'', the chalk milkwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygalaceae, native to western Europe. It is a delicate mat-forming evergreen perennial growing to tall by broad, with spikes of small, vivid deep blue fl ...

. The north-facing slope, by contrast, has more mosses and bryophytes on the closely grazed turf, with

tufted hair-grass ''Deschampsia cespitosa'', commonly known as tufted hairgrass or tussock grass, is a perennial tufted plant in the grass family Poaceae. Distribution of this species is widespread including the eastern and western coasts of North America, parts ...

false oat-grass ''Arrhenatherum elatius'', with the common names bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a species of perennial grass, native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. This bun ...

red fescue ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue or creeping red fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in c ...

and crested hair-grass.

Common valerian Valerian (''Valeriana officinalis'', Caprifoliaceae) is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant native to Europe and Asia. In the summer when the mature plant may have a height of , it bears sweetly scented pink or white flowers that attrac ...

is an unusual species to find on chalk soils, and other herbs include

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 ...

, fairy flax and an abundance of devil’s-bit scabious. Long Knoll is categorised as a Marilyn, a hill with

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of at least .

References

{{SSSIs Wilts biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Marilyns of England Hills of Wiltshire