| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 Stinchcombe Hill | |
  Location within Gloucestershire | |
| Location | Gloucestershire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | ST7360698151 |
| Coordinates | 51°40′52″N2°22′54″W / 51.68104°N 2.38179°W /51.68104; -2.38179 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 28.6hectare |
| Notification | 1966 |
| Natural England website | |
Stinchcombe is a small village and civil parish inGloucestershire, England on theB4060 road betweenDursley andNorth Nibley. The church is calledSt Cyr's and its churchyard contains 40–60 gravestones. The population taken at the2011 census was 480.[1]
It gives its name to the nearbyStinchcombe Hill (grid referenceST7360698151) which is a 28.6-hectare (71-acre), a nearly detached part of theCotswold Edge, which wasnotified as abiological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1966.[2][3]
Stinchcombe Hill lies west ofDursley and forms part of theJurassiclimestone scarp of theCotswolds. The site represents the semi-natural calcareous grasslands supporting particular flora and fauna, and particularly a number of rare and uncommon species.[2]
The Hill has a large golf course on the top, and has a public right of way round its edge which is part of theCotswold Way. (The exact line of the right of way and its interaction with the golf greens has been the subject of some controversy over the years.)The rights of way were redefined by a public enquiry in 2012 and are signposted.
The view from Drakestone Point (219 metres (719 ft) atgrid referenceST737981) over the Vale to theRiver Severn andForest of Dean beyond, is particularly fine, but the tranquility is injured by the proximity of theM5 Motorway. Since 1992 volunteers have done a great deal of work on the Hill, attempting to restore the open views over the Severn Vale. The cleared areas can be seen from the M5, and the Cotswold Way has now been re-routed around the Hill to take advantage of this work.
The novelistEvelyn Waugh lived atPiers Court in Stinchcombe from 1937 to 1956. During this time he wrote some of his best known works, includingScoop,Brideshead Revisited,Men at Arms andOfficers and Gentlemen. The village is also the birthplace ofWilliam Tyndale (ca. 1494- 1536), scholar and translator of the Bible into English.
