Milk Hill, located near Alton Priors east of

Devizes Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...

, is the highest point in the county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, southwest

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, at some above sea level (the adjacent Tan Hill rises to 294 m). It is the location of the Alton Barnes White Horse (a hill figure cut in 1812).

Height

On 23 August 2009, the BBC programme '' Countryfile'' featured an item on analysis by

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

to determine whether Milk or Tan Hill is the higher. It was confirmed that Milk Hill is higher than Tan Hill. Alton Barnes White Horse - geograph

Located at the western edge of the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbury ...

(part of the

North Wessex Downs The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape (formerly known as Area of ...

AONB), it is also the highest summit along a 50 km ridge extending all the way from the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

, across the southern Chilterns and into Wiltshire. Milk Hill is the second highest point between

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

after Walbury Hill in

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbur ...

(), and is thus also the second highest chalk hill in the UK, again behind Walbury Hill, though it has a slightly greater prominence. Views are extensive from here, as far as the Mendips and

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

and in very clear weather as far as the Black Mountains in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, making this one of the most southeasterly points in the UK from which high mountain country can be sighted.

Hang gliding/paragliding

Milk Hill is frequently used by the Thames Valley

Hang Gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

and

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

Club. *It was the starting point for longest hang-glider flight ever in the UK on 10 May 2011 by Nev Almond. He flew to near Blakeney on the

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

coast. *It was also the starting point for the longest paraglider flight in the UK, by Mark Watts on 3 August 2014: , to near Felbrigg in Norfolk.Cross Country magazine *Alex Coltman (M) broke the record achieved by Mark Watts in 2017 with a new paraglider flight straight-line record to Mundesley in Norfolk. *Kirsty Cameron (F) also broke paragliding records in 2017 with a straight-line flight from Alton Barnes White Horse to near Beeston in Norfolk. She also gained a declared goal record with Luke Nicol and Mark Watts. Milk Hill continues to be one of the best locations in England for free flight.

Gallery

File: Milk Hill and Walkers Hill - geograph.org.uk - 3142856.jpg, Milk Hill and Walkers Hill File: Milk Hill - geograph.org.uk - 3275386.jpg, On Milk Hill in 2012 File: Downland on Milk Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1914532.jpg,

Downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

on Milk Hill File: Scene on Milk Hill - geograph.org.uk - 2189318.jpg, Scene in December 2010 File: View towards Milk Hill - geograph.org.uk - 3862785.jpg, View towards Milk Hill (from

All Cannings All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington. In 2011 the parish had ...

) File: Hang gliders on Milk Hill - geograph.org.uk - 4714983.jpg, Hang gliders on Milk Hill

References

Thames Valley Hang Gliding Club
Hills of Wiltshire Highest points of English counties {{Wiltshire-geo-stub