St Catherine's Hill
Monthly Update
November update
While many of the shrubs have dropped their leaves, the gold and bronze leaves of the hill-top beech trees are looking very fine. On clear days, the soft light from the low autumn sun makes them glow. The hawthorn are heavily laddened with bright red hips ready to refuel thrushes, such as redwing and fieldfare, after their flight south to enjoy our mild winters. Sussex cattle will be helping the resident Shetland sheep graze down the thick turf over the hill. Our teams of volunteers will be clearing invasive scrub from the south of the valley through ‘til spring.
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OS grid reference SU 484 280 A 58 hectare flower-rich chalk grassland with an abundance of wild flowers and butterflies. This is a great place to enjoy wildlife, ancient monuments and the most spectacular views over Winchester, the Itchen Valley and the surrounding countryside. St Catherine’s Hill is a fabulous place to enjoy a summer walk and picnic. |
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Click here for more on wildlife and landscape features and read our latest news on the blog.
Getting there
- OS grid reference SU 484 280. The reserve is one mile from Winchester city centre. There are regular trains to Winchester from Southampton, Portsmouth and Basingstoke.
- From Winchester city centre take the bus to St Catherine’s Park’n’Ride. On Garnier Road head downhill to the river.
- There is parking off Garnier Road, just ¼ mile west of M3 J10. Follow the road signs on local roads.
Getting around
- The hill stands 70m above the river valley with 100+ steps on the north and south sides. There is a flatter route via the surfaced footpath parallel to the Itchen Navigation, then along the unsurfaced bridleway along Plague Pit valley.
- There are worn grass paths that crisscross the hill, valley and ridge. Beware of rabbit holes if venturing off the paths
Contact information
For further details of conditions on site contact the Reserves Officer on 07831 692963. There are also volunteer warden opportunities at St Catherine's Hill, please click for more information.
Find your way there by SatNav
Our reserve descriptions include maps and information on how to get there. To make things even easier, we have set up POIs (Points of Interest) for some of our larger reserves, which you can download into a satnav.
Download to your computer, the files which contain the POI definitions for Garmin and TomTom satnavs and the small logo which will show where the reserve is. To download these files, right click on the links above and choose Save Target As ... (or similar).
You will need to consult the satnav manual to find out how to load the POIs (HIWWT_reserves.ov2 for TomToms or HIWWT_reserves.csv for Garmins) and the logo (HIWWT_reserves.bmp) onto the satnav device.
