Steeple Langford Down

Steeple Langford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Wilton. It has also been called Great Langford or Langford Magna. The village lies on the north bank of the River Wylye, and is bypassed to the north by the A36 Warminster-Salisbury trunk road which follows the river valley. The parish includes two hamlets on the other side of the river: Hanging Langford and Little Langford (formerly a separate civil parish). To the west is the former settlement of Bathampton. Steeple Langford has thatched cottages, and several lakes created by the flooding of worked-out gravel pits.

Yarnbury Castle is the site of a multiphase, multivallate Iron Age hillfort near the village of Steeple Langford, Wiltshire, England. The site covers an area of 28.5 acres (11.5 ha), and was extensively surveyed and investigated by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1991, with finds of Iron Age and Romano-British pottery, Iron Age and Roman coins, and burials of human remains. There is much evidence of prolonged and extensive settlement of the site, including evidence of around 130 structures of various sizes, most probably representing a mix of round houses, pits, and other features. It was designated as a scheduled monument in 1925. The earthworks of Yarnbury Castle are also a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) first notified in 1951. The site is on private land and has no public access.

Little Langford is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Steeple Langford, in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Wilton, about 5 miles (8.0 km) to the southeast. It is in the Wylye valley, to the south of the river; the grass fields adjacent to the river were traditionally flood meadows. In 1931 the parish had a population of 64. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Steeple Langford. In 1086, the Domesday Book survey recorded estates held by Wilton Abbey, Glastonbury Abbey and Edward of Salisbury. In 1990, the Wilton estate of the Earl of Pembroke owned nearly all the land in the former parish.

Parsonage Down (grid reference SU050412) is a 188.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1971. It lies about 7 miles (11 km) west of Amesbury, in Winterbourne Stoke parish.

Grovely Castle is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort in the parish of Steeple Langford, in Wiltshire, England. The remaining ramparts stand approximately 3.2 m (10 ft) high, with 1.5 m (4.9 ft) deep ditches, although ploughing has damaged the earthworks in some parts of the site. Excavations have uncovered the remains of five human skeletons within the ramparts. Entrances are in the south-west and north-east corners of the hillfort. A circular enclosure of 35 to 40 m (115 to 131 ft) is evident in aerial photographs of the hillfort interior. There is also a later bank and ditch which runs through the hill-fort from south-west to north-east, and is probably part of an extensive surrounding Celtic field system.

Ebsbury Down (grid reference SU054352) is a 132-acre (53 ha) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1975. It lies on the southern slopes of the Wylye valley, adjacent to Grovely Wood and west of Great Wishford village. The diverse chalk grassland has a variety of plants and some prominent anthills.

Grovely Wood is one of the largest woodlands in southern Wiltshire, England. It stands on a chalk ridge above the River Wylye in Barford St Martin parish, to the south-west of the village of Great Wishford, within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is recognised for its nature conservation importance through designation as a County Wildlife Site. Among the species found here is the Purple Emperor butterfly.To the west of Grovely, on the same ridge, lies another large block of woodland, Great Ridge Wood. Adjacent to Grovely, to the north, lies the grassland Site of Special Scientific Interest Ebsbury Down. Another SSSI, Baverstock Juniper Bank, is also nearby. There is much Iron Age and Roman archaeology in the vicinity of the woods. A Roman road runs east to west through the centre of the wood, and at the western end are the Iron Age/Romano-British settlements of Hanging Langford Camp and Church End Ring. Just to the north of the woods lie the sites of two Iron Age hillforts, Ebsbury, and Grovely castle; as well as an Iron Age farm enclosure, known as East Castle.

Baverstock Juniper Bank (grid reference SU035336) is a 2.6 hectare Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest to the north of the village of Baverstock in Wiltshire, England. Baverstock Juniper Bank is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The ungrazed chalk grassland is home to over 500 bushes of the lowland juniper, Juniperus communis, subspecies communis. Their seeds attract flocks of finches and yellowhammers to the location as a feeding site in winter. Uncommon species such a horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and pyramidal orchid are to be found at the SSSI. Butterflies such as the brimstone, speckled wood and small heath have been seen visiting the site. The site was notified in 1971.

The site of Ebsbury, in Wiltshire, England, includes the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement, field system and possible hill fort, and a Romano-British enclosed settlement. The site occupies the spur of a downland hill with the possible hill fort enclosure measuring approximately 700 m (770 yd) by 400 m (440 yd), inside of which lie the remains of a field system with two further smaller oval enclosures and one triangular enclosure. To the north and east sides of the site the contours of the hill have been reinforced by several banks. The site of an Iron Age settlement lies to the eastern end of the site.The site was subject to archaeological surveys and excavations in 1906 by S.W. Doughty. Finds include a Neolithic perforated mace-head and two Roman coin hoards. The latter were found buried in two earthenware pots; the coins date from between AD 337 and AD 408, and were found with the remains of a glass vessel, and six silver rings.

Stapleford is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Wilton, Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Till just above its confluence with the River Wylye. The village is on the B3083 road, which joins the A36 at the southern end of the village. The parish includes the hamlet of Serrington, on the A36 0.25 miles (400 m) west of the B3083 junction.

The River Till rises near Tilshead on Salisbury Plain in the English county of Wiltshire. It flows for about 14 km (9 miles) south and south-east, through Orcheston, Maddington, Shrewton, Winterbourne Stoke, Berwick St James and Stapleford, to join the River Wylye.The upper part of the river is a winterbourne, flowing only in winter and early spring. The whole length of the Till has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as its vegetation includes water crowfoot which provides habitat for fish and snails.Although Tilshead village appears to be named from the river, the opposite applies. The village name was first used in the 16th century, and comes from older names based on "Theodwulf's hide" (recorded in Domesday Book as Tidolthide). The river was called the Winterbourne until around the start of the 20th century, when the name River Till began to be used on Ordnance Survey maps.

Wylye and Church Dean Downs (grid reference SU002361) is an 80.9 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1951.