May Hill is a prominent English hill between

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...

. Its summit, on the western edge of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and its northern slopes in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

, is distinguishable by a clump of trees on its summit, which forms an official Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is reached by three public footpaths, two as parts of the

Gloucestershire Way The Gloucestershire Way is a long-distance footpath, in the English county of Gloucestershire. It was devised by Gerry and Kate Stewart, of the Ramblers Association and Tewkesbury Walking Club. The route, which uses existing Rights of Way, g ...

and Wysis Way.

Toponymy

There is an unverified story that May Hill was named after a certain Captain May who used it as a landmark when navigating the Severn estuary, but documents from a couple of hundred years ago relate that the hill was known as Yartleton Hill and was renamed because of the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

events held there. Each May Day,

morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

rs dance in the new dawn on the top of May Hill and hundreds of observers join in the celebration. A ceremony on May Day morning has been carried out for several centuries; originally it included a mock battle between youths.

Geography

May Hill forms part of a low range of hills separating the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

from the River Wye. The summit is above sea level. Among the trees there are several benches from which the views in all directions can be seen. They include views to the

Welsh borders The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ...

, and the lower reaches of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

, bypassed for shipping by the

Gloucester and Sharpness Canal The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a sign ...

Geology

May Hill is formed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

s and siltstones known as the May Hill sandstone, consisting of the Huntley Hill and Yartleton formations. These rocks date from the Early Silurian period and are formed into a dome, cut through by several faults. The most significant of these is the Blaisdon Fault, which forms the eastern boundary of May Hill and separates it from the younger rocks of the Severn Vale.

Ecology and SSSI status

The summit of May Hill () is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. May Hill is listed in the Forest of Dean Local Plan Review as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). Much of May Hill is wooded, both coniferous and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

, but the summit area is

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

, with a small amount of heather and gorse. The immediate summit is topped with mature Corsican pines, planted in 1887 to mark

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's Golden Jubilee. One very old Scots Pine is a generation older, but which regrettably suffered badly in an ice storm in early 2012. The trees make May Hill an identifiable landmark from many miles away. The younger trees were planted to mark Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. Early maps and accounts show a clump of trees on the top before these plantings. Birds to be seen on the hill include

meadow pipit The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird, which breeds in much of the Palearctic, from southeastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; an isol ...

tree pipit The tree pipit (''Anthus trivialis'') is a small passerine bird which breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic as far East as the East Siberian Mountains. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to Africa and southern Asia. The s ...

, common redstart and raven, whilst the woods below have a good population of woodcock.

History

The hill includes a circular trench 100 metres in diameter said to be an

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 mostl ...

earthwork, surrounding a mound that is probably a round barrow. There are records of a clump of trees on the summit of May Hill dating back to the later 18th century. The hill was

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

by an Act of Parliament in 1873. The dwindling clump was replenished in time for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, when most of the trees that give the hill its distinctive character today were planted. An area of 30 ha of the hill passed into the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 1935, although the summit has remained vested with

Longhope Longhope is a village in west Gloucestershire, situated within the Forest of Dean, England, United Kingdom. Arthur Bullock, who was born in Longhope in 1899, described its location as follows: * The parish occupies the most easterly valley in t ...

Parish Council and registered as a

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

. There was further replenishment of the trees in 1977 for the

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth throughout 1977, ...

. A plaque on the summit commemorating this reads: The site boundary was amended in 1983.

May Hill in cultural life

May Hill is associated with the poets Edward Thomas and Robert Frost.

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

describes May Hill in his poem " The Everlasting Mercy".

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in ps ...

eulogised "May Hill that Gloucester dwellers 'gainst every sunset see." Composer

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

's ashes were scattered on the top in 1973. One of the benches on the summit is dedicated to the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

chronicler, Winifred Foley, and her husband, who had moved to the nearby village of

Cliffords Mesne Cliffords Mesne is an English village in Gloucestershire, two miles (3.2 km) south-west of the town of Newent. It became the home of the autobiographical author Winifred Foley from the mid-1970s, after the success of her first book of Gloucesters ...

in the 1970s. A book of paintings and drawings of May Hill has been published by the artist Valerie McLean.

References

External links

Photos of May Hill
o
www.geograph.org.uk
o
www.wyenot.comPanoramic view of May HillVideo of May Day sunrise celebration on May Hill (2010)Natural England
(SSSI information) {{SSSIs Gloucs geological Marilyns of England Hills of Gloucestershire Forest of Dean Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1954