Region: South West
This new country park on former farmland provides fine views across South Wiltshire as far as Salisbury Plain to the north and the fringes of the New Forest to the south. The historic Laverstock Downs, Salisbury Cathedral, Old Sarum and nearby airfield can all be viewed from the plateau. The Park is a great place to spot wildlife and the Skylarks in spring are a particular highlight.
For information on events and activities on the park, please visit the Castle Hill Country Park Facebook page.
Saunders Avenue, Laverstock, Salisbury, Wiltshire , SP1 3GB
Site size: 55 hectares
Open access
Parking is very limited and visitors are advised to use public transport. There is a small free car park adjacent to Greentrees Junior School, Saunders Avenue, Riverdown Park SP1 3PG. Another car park is planned for 2020.
There are toilets at Victoria Park, Stratford Road SP1 3JH
(click here to find the nearest public toilets)
Café@TheFarm is located at River Bourne Community Farm in Laverstock (open Tues-Sun 10am-4pm).
Free
All paths are currently unsurfaced and vary in gradient from flat to 1:10 or steeper
Well controlled dogs welcome
Walking, bird spotting, wildlife watching, waymarker pillars and pavers trail, splendid views, First World War Memorial Woodland (planted 2018), Neighbourhood Equipped Area for Play (NEAP) and Multi Use Games Area (MUGA).
Site management includes habitat restoration and the creation of floristically rich chalk grassland with associate scrub habitats, a mosaic of traditional farmed habitats (grasslands, wood pasture trees, orchard trees, arable margin flora and hedgerows), woodlands, wetland, carr, neutral grasslands and wet grassland swale habitats.
Old Sarum Iron Age Hillfort, BDAC Old Sarum Airfield Museum, River Bourne Community Farm, Cockey Down SSSI, Salisbury Cathedral, Mompesson House and Arundells.
The site contact for our Castle Hill Country Park space is Edward Knowles Tel: 07392 277 583
This space is managed by the Land Trust.
Barratt Homes transferred the Country Park to Laverstock & Ford Parish Council in March 2019. Prior to its transfer, the site was redesigned from the original Developers proposal for a formal green space to a rural Country Park by a Landscape Architect working on behalf of the Parish on a voluntary basis. The design elements were informed by residents’ preferences using a Survey Monkey online questionnaire. Approximately 90,000 tonnes of spoil from the Riverdown Park development were incorporated into the redesign through re-profiling 15 hectares of the site for habitat creation.
Laverstock & Ford Parish Council is working in partnership with The Land Trust to develop the Country Park and maximise the benefits for the local community and wildlife from this important public greenspace.
To contact the Land Trust about this site or how we could help manage your space please email our Estates Manager Steve Crosby .
To enquire about holding an event on a Land Trust site, please click here.
We are always on the look out for enthusiastic, committed people who want to make a real and lasting difference in their local community.
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