UK Mountains
White Sheet Hill
245M
804FT
About White Sheet Hill
Rising steeply above the village of Maiden Bradley, this chalk escarpment is a site of immense antiquity. It holds both a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and an Iron Age hillfort within its ramparts. The airy summit offers expansive views across the Stourhead estate and the rolling transitions between the Wiltshire and Somerset borders.
Key Statistics
Rank
83rd Highest in Region
Parent Range
Exmoor
Prominence
?
73m
Nearest Town
Maiden Bradley
Geology
White Sheet Hill is built from several layers of chalk. This landscape consists of lumpy and clay-rich formations that create the foundation beneath your feet.
Classifications
Nearby Fells
Find It
OS Grid Reference
ST804347
Latitude
51.1114°N
Longitude
2.2801°W
Did You Know?
- •The name likely refers to the 'white' chalk tracks and scars visible against the green turf from the valley below, which from a distance can resemble a pale cloth draped over the downland.
- •The hill is a significant archaeological palimpsest; archaeologists have identified a Neolithic enclosure from approximately 3500 BC, which was later incorporated into the defences of a much younger Iron Age hillfort.
- •Looking west from the summit, the skyline is dominated by the 49-metre tall King Alfred's Tower, a triangular brick folly built in 1772 on the edge of the Stourhead estate.
- •Now managed by the National Trust and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the hill’s unimproved chalk grassland provides a vital habitat for the rare Adonis Blue and Chalk Hill Blue butterflies.
- •Due to its steep south-facing slopes and clean air currents, the hill is a premier location for paragliding; if you see someone descending significantly faster than you, they have likely traded their walking poles for a canopy.