Milk Hill

Milk Hill, located near Alton Priors east of Devizes, is the highest point in the county of Wiltshire, southwest England, at some 295 m above sea level (the adjacent Tan Hill rises to 294 m). It is the location of the Alton Barnes White Horse (a hill figure cut in 1812).

Height
On 23 August 2009, the BBC programme Countryfile featured an item on analysis by Ordnance Survey to determine whether Milk or Tan Hill is the higher. It was confirmed that Milk Hill is 26 cm higher than Tan Hill.

Located at the western edge of the Vale of Pewsey (part of the North Wessex Downs AONB), it is also the highest summit along a 50 km ridge extending all the way from the South Downs, across the southern Chilterns and into Wiltshire. Milk Hill is the second highest point between Bristol and London after Walbury Hill in West Berkshire (297 m), and is thus also the second highest chalk hill in the UK, again behind Walbury Hill, though it has a slightly greater prominence.

Views are extensive from here, as far as the Mendips and Cotswolds and in very clear weather as far as the Black Mountains in South Wales, making this one of the most southeasterly points in the UK from which high mountain country can be sighted.

Hang gliding/paragliding
Milk Hill is frequently used by the Thames Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club.


 * It was the starting point for longest hang-glider flight ever in the UK on 10 May 2011 by Nev Almond. He flew 269 km to near Blakeney on the Norfolk coast.
 * It was also the starting point for the longest paraglider flight in the UK, by Mark Watts on 3 August 2014: 275.5 km, to near Felbrigg in Norfolk.
 * Alex Coltman (M) broke the record achieved by Mark Watts in 2017 with a new 281 km paraglider flight straight-line record to Mundesley in Norfolk.
 * Kirsty Cameron (F) also broke paragliding records in 2017 with a straight-line 235.6 km flight from Alton Barnes White Horse to near Beeston in Norfolk. She also gained a declared goal record with Luke Nicol and Mark Watts.

Milk Hill continues to be one of the best locations in England for free flight.