Selborne Hill is one of the highest points in the county of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
,
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 ...
. It is one of the
East Hampshire Hangers
The East Hampshire Hangers are located in the English county of Hampshire and form a line of hills with steep scarps that marks the eastern edge of the Hampshire Downs and its boundary with the Western Weald, an area of rolling countryside east o ...
, a line of prominent hills on the eastern scarp slope of the
Hampshire Downs
The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the sout ...
, and reaches above sea level. Its prominence of 53 metres qualifies it as one of the county's
Tumps.
Selborne Hill lies above the village of
Selborne
Selborne is a village in Hampshire, England, south of Alton, and just within the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park. The village receives visitors because of its links with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White, a pioneer of bi ...
on the edge of the Hampshire Downs, its crown playing host to
Selborne Common, an area of woodland and relict wood-pasture. Its summit and steep escarpment are covered by woods, with Selborne Hanger to the northeast dropping abruptly to the fields above Selborne. The Zig-Zag Path runs down the spur towards the east.
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 ...
1:50,000 ''Landranger'' series. This is the area where the world famous
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
and pioneer of
birdwatching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
, Rev.
Gilbert White
Gilbert White (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''.
Life
White was born on 18 Jul ...
, wrote his celebrated ''
Natural History of Selborne
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...
''.
Natural History of Selborne
/ref>
References
Hills of Hampshire
{{Hampshire-geo-stub