Small and easily missed, but a genuine rarity for anyone interested in wildflowers — time a visit for July if orchids are the draw. The holloway itself, with centuries of foot traffic worn into the chalk, is worth a look even outside orchid season.
A tiny but special patch of steeply sloping chalk downland on the banks of a Saxon or medieval holloway — a sunken trackway worn down by centuries of feet climbing between the Vale of Pewsey and the downs towards Hungerford, close to the Berkshire border. Grazed by sheep to keep the scrub down, it holds a population of the nationally scarce musk orchid alongside burnt-tip, twayblade, common spotted, fragrant and pyramidal orchids.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve — free to explore on foot; many are dog-free to protect wildlife.