Cley Hill

For other uses, see Clay Hill.

Cley Hill
LIDAR of Cley Hill Camp showing erosion of the hill

Cley Hill (grid reference ST838449) is a prominent hill to the west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. Its summit has a commanding view of the Wiltshire / Somerset county boundary, at 244 metres (801 ft) elevation.[1] The land is in Corsley parish and is owned by the National Trust.

A 26.6-hectare (66-acre) area of chalk grassland at Cley Hill was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1975.[2] The land is managed by the National Trust, having been donated to the charity in 1954 by the 6th Marquess of Bath.[3]

Archaeological features include a large univallate Iron Age hill fort, two bowl barrows and medieval strip lynchets.[4]

3D view of the digital terrain model

There is a legend that the hill was formed by the devil, when he dropped a sack of earth with which he had planned to bury the town of Devizes. He had retrieved the earth from Somerset and was travelling to Devizes when he stopped to ask an old man the distance to the town. The man replied that he had been walking for years to reach Devizes, so the devil abandoned his plan.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Cley Hill". Database of British and Irish Hills. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Citation sheet for Cley Hill" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Cley Hill". National Trust. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Hillfort, two bowl barrows, medieval strip lynchets and a cross dyke on Cley Hill (1017296)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. ^ "...while we bet this hill's a devil to climb". Wiltshire Times. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2013.

Media related to Cley Hill at Wikimedia Commons

51°12′11″N 2°14′00″W / 51.20308°N 2.23326°W / 51.20308; -2.23326


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