FoSGHP Blog

The view over Winchester at 5am (courtesy of Sheena Smith) At 5am on Sunday 26th April a group of eleven early risers gathered on St Giles Hill to experience one of nature’s most uplifting joys - the dawn chorus. At first, in the darkness, the blackbirds were the first to sing, seemingly competing as if on a Britain’s Got Talent show. They were soon joined by robins improvising their short phrases tumbling into each other. Then as first light spread across the hill, the soun

St Giles Hill Park is renowned for its views and its contribution to the city of Winchester. In 2026 we invite you to enjoy the Park and join in with some of the activities and events the Friends of St Giles Hill Park are arranging. All the heritage and nature themed events are free as we want as many people as possible to appreciate this amazing historic natural open space. In September and October we begin to focus on the future. We are creating a Strategic Framework Plan f

Parks are places for people to be outdoors and meet the natural world. Places where they can come to exercise, play, explore, relax and enjoy fresh air and a peaceful moment of the casual company of others. They can be widely and wildly different places varying from utilitarian recreation grounds to curated natural landscapes. You may find anything from a manicured flower bed and childrens’ playground to ancient trees and havens for nature. How does one decide what sort of p

For centuries residents and visitors enjoyed walking on St. Giles Hill to take the fresh air and enjoy the magnificent views of the Cathedral, College and City below. With the arrival of the railways and the Victoria expansion of Winchester land once grazed by sheep became prime real estate and housing development threatened. To prevent development and preserve access the west flank of St. Giles Hill land was purchased by the City on condition it be used as a place of recrea

Council work is well under way to address the most immediate issue of ash dieback on trees throughout the park, particularly those by the path from the top of the steps and leading to the main viewpoint, though there are ash trees in other parts, needing attention, too. A main stand of Ash on St Giles Hill. This includes trees dotted around the Park especially those on the tricky to tackle ash on slopes down towards the Chesil Car Park. At the end of last year, I happened acr

The Friends of St Giles Hill Park held their Gathering at St Swithun’s School earlier this month. The aim was to look back at progress so far in helping improve the Park but mainly to cover ambitions to achieve an overall long term Framework Plan for the Park. Currently, the management of the Park is based on a Winchester City Council 5 year Management Plan which is about half way through its lifespan. However, the Friends, with the support of the Council and bodies ranging

Students busy clearing pathways For the first time, University of Winchester students joined the Friends of St Giles Hill Park recently to help improve the Park. The tasks undertaken included litter picking, path clearance and helping nurture 100 trees planted in the park two years ago. The collaboration came about after Steve Yang, Senior Lecturer at the University of Winchester joined a walk in the Park led by Harry Mycock, Chair of the Friends of St Giles Hill Park in th

On a recent sunny October morning, the Friends of St Giles Hill Working Party were joined by seven members of the City Council Transformation Team, more than doubling the Working Party on the day. The tasks accomplished, which are part of the Management Plan included the clearing of unwanted vegetation such as brambles, Old Man’s Beard and self seeded sycamore from around the 100 native trees supplied by Winchester City Council and planted by volunteers on St Giles Hill in De

The Savills team with Harry, after an enjoyable morning's work in the park. The Friends of St Giles Hill Park were delighted to host five volunteers from Savills Estate Agents who gave their time to help improve St Giles Hill Park on a sunny October morning recently. Associate Director from Residential Sales Rob Tottle was joined by Carmen Lever, Emily Medland, Haley Prescott and James Waddington from Savills to help boost the work of the Working Parties of The Friends of St

You may not know it but the progressive rock band, Big Big Train released the song “Winchester from St Giles Hill” in September 2013 and twelve years later in September 2025 over seventy fans from the UK, Europe, New Zealand and the USA gathered on St Giles Hill to celebrate the music. The Viewpoint has probably never been so packed. Photo: Martin Haskell Gregory Spawton, the band’s co-founder, hailing from Bournemouth wrote the song but loves the history of Winchester, hen

When our 6 year old grand-daughter was staying with us and we told her we thought we might take her to see bats she was very worried....

Climate change is affecting Britain's native trees. How will they cope with increasingly unstable weather and the onset of new diseases?