Cley Hill

Steep slopes, thin soils and grazing cattle provide perfect conditions for chalk grassland flora and fauna to thrive.

The diminutive early gentian can be seen in May, June sees orchids appearing, and then in late summer Autumn lady’s tresses are a highlight.

The abundant Horseshoe vetch in spring attracts the rare iridescent Adonis blue butterfly which has two broods in spring and summer.

The hedges and scrub are great for farmland birds such as yellowhammer, linnet and goldfinch. Kestrel and red kite enjoy the thermals around the hill.

Cley Hill has an Iron Age hillfort, along with earlier Bronze Age burial mounds and later medieval strip lynchets.

Its prominent position provides a good viewpoint for the hills around Warminster and as far as the Mendips.

On the south side of the hill is a quarry, in the 19th Century, chalk was dug to make lime mortar.

From the top if you look northeast, you can see Cley Hill’s ‘little brother’, known locally as Little Cley Hill.