Description:

A woodland fringed flower-rich chalk downland.

Catherington Down is a stunning flower-rich chalk grassland with a fascinating and historic landscape. Here you can walk over the conspicuous terraces known as ‘strip lynchets’, which were formed by medieval farmers
ploughing the dry valley slopes. These dramatic additions to the landscape can be seen at their best from the top of the hill. The chalk grassland is full of flowers in spring and summer and as the weather gets warmer butterflies make the most of the available nectar. Around the edge of the Down there are narrow belts of trees within which wild roses and many different types of woodland bird can be found.

Catherington Down is managed jointly by the Hampshire Wildlife Trust and its owner Hampshire County Council, utilising a combination of grazing and manual scrub removal.