Chosen Hill, Gloucestershire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chosen Hill
Footpath on Chosen Hill, Churchdown
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Type	Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve
Location	between Gloucester and Cheltenham
Area	28.5 acres (11.5 ha)
Created	1990
Operated by	Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Severn Trent plc
Status	Open all year

Chosen Hill, also called Churchdown Hill, is a special place in Gloucestershire, England. It rises above the village of Churchdown. This hill is home to an 11.5-hectare (about 28.5-acre) nature reserve.

From the top of Chosen Hill, you can see amazing views. You can look out over the River Severn and the beautiful Severn Vale. There are many paths for walkers to explore. One old path is called the 'coffin way'. It leads from St. Bartholomew's Church at the top of the hill towards Hucclecote.

In the 1940s and 1950s, large covered water reservoirs were built on the hill. Below the main reservoir, there's an interesting archaeological site. It's an Iron Age fort known as Churchdown Hill Camp. Geologically, Chosen Hill is an outlier of the Cotswolds, meaning it's a smaller hill separated from the main Cotswold hills.

Chosen Hill's Nature Reserves

Chosen Hill is surrounded by four nature reserves. These are all managed together as one big reserve. The Woodland Trust and the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust help look after them. They have been doing this since 1990, working with Severn Trent plc.

Trees on the Hill

Some of the largest conifer trees on Chosen Hill were planted a long time ago, about 120 years back. More recent trees were planted in the 1940s. You can find tall Scots pine, Austrian pine, and even giant coast redwood trees here. Newer plantings include larch and other types of pine.

The older parts of the woodland have oak, ash, hazel, and field maple. You might also spot hawthorn, blackthorn, crab apple, wild cherry, and holly. In the grassy areas, gorse and ash trees grow.

Plants and Flowers

Chosen Hill is famous for its beautiful spring flowers. You'll see lots of bluebells. Other pretty flowers include archangel, wood anemone, and dog-violet.

The grassland areas are natural and untouched. Here, you can find cowslip, tormentil, cuckooflower, and bird's-foot-trefoil. The rare bee orchid has also been seen growing on the hill.

Near the top of the hill, where the soil is limestone, different plants grow. These include common milkwort, field scabious, yellow-wort, and hairy violet.

Birds Living Here

Many different birds make Chosen Hill their home. Birds that breed here include the chiffchaff, little owl, great spotted woodpecker, linnet, nuthatch, yellowhammer, and whitethroat. If you walk along the path to the north of the reserve, you might even see a woodcock.

Looking After the Reserve

Over the years, some of the conifer trees have been cut down. Also, thick areas of cherry laurel have been cleared. When new trees are planted, they are usually broad-leaved types. The hazel trees are sometimes coppiced, which means they are cut back to the base to encourage new growth. Other overgrown areas are also cleared. In 1991, animals were brought back to graze on the hill. This helps to keep the grassland healthy.

Chosen Hill's Cultural Impact

Chosen Hill has inspired many artists and musicians. Two famous composers from the early 1900s, Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells, loved spending time here. Chosen Hill directly inspired Howells' Piano Quartet in A minor. He also wrote a piece called 'Chosen Tune', which he dedicated to his fiancée who lived in Churchdown.

Another composer, Gerald Finzi, visited the Sexton's Cottage by the church on New Year's Eve in 1925. The sound of the bells ringing in the new year inspired two of his musical works. These were the orchestral piece Nocturne (New Year Music) and his choral work In Terra Pax. In 1956, Finzi showed the hill to Ralph Vaughan Williams. During this visit, Finzi caught chickenpox from children living in the cottage. Sadly, Finzi was already very ill with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and the chickenpox led to his death two weeks later.

In 2010, the BBC reported something amazing. Willard Wigan, an artist famous for his tiny sculptures, created a model of Chosen Hill's St Bartholomew's church. He sculpted it on a single grain of sand! He took the sand from the churchyard. Wigan made this tiny artwork after his girlfriend challenged him. She said the result was "absolutely fantastic". The church's vicar, Reverend Jonathan Perkin, also called the model beautiful. However, Wigan himself wasn't fully satisfied. He said he wanted to make his next work even smaller!