Hat Gate

Location

Marlborough SN8 4NG
What3Words: ///hazel.relocated.defends
OS map 157 Grid ref: SU212642

When to visit

Free and open to visit 24 hours a day.

Know before you go

Not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs
Dogs on leads are welcome
1 hectare

Download the reserve leaflet

About the nature reserve

Hat Gate reserve map © WWT

We bought this small section of dismantled railway from British Rail in 1988 for £1. It comprises an embankment, the abutment of two railway bridges and a bridleway.

What can be seen here?

It has a variety of common plants and birds such as whitethroat and garden warbler. The grizzled skipper butterfly is attracted by its wild strawberries. You might spot a beetle with long antennae - the golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle. Small areas of grassland contain eyebright, marjoram, black knapweed and fairy flax.

How can I get here?

Download directions

Latest

Care Farm Education and Wellbeing Officer (The Willows)

we are looking to expand our team of enthusiastic and experienced Education and Wellbeing Officers to support and shape our expanding Care Farm provision.
Casual Hours Education and Wellbeing Officer

We are looking to expand our team of enthusiastic and experienced Education and Wellbeing Officers to support and shape our expanding Care Farm provision.
Listening to the dawn chorus

Our Young Ambassadors share their experiences of the dawn chorus.
Jackdaws

Jonny Cooper from the Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre provides more information about Jackdaws.

Blackmoor Copse

Blackmoor Copse in Salisbury was our first nature reserve and we have been looking after it since 1962.
Blakehill Farm including Stoke Common Meadow

This former military airfield in Cricklade is being turned back into wildlife-rich hay meadow.
Cloatley Meadows

The eight meadows that make up this nature reserve on the edge of the Braydon Forest in Malmesbury are awash with wild flowers and alive with insects during summer.
Clouts Wood including Markham Banks, Kings Farm Wood and Diocese Meadows

A walk through this Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wroughton takes you from stream-soaked valley floor, up steep slopes to level land at the top.
Cockey Down

This chalk downland offers superb views of Salisbury Cathedral and the surrounding countryside.
Conigre Mead

Conigre Mead in Melksham was a field of rough grass until local volunteers dug ponds, cleared scrub and planted trees and wildflowers.
Coombe Bissett Down

This chalk downland valley in Salisbury is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and worth a visit at any time of year for its sweeping views.
Devizes and Roundway Orchard

A small orchard with old cricket field in Devizes. Areas converted into wildflower beds.
Dunscombe Bottom

This stretch of chalk grassland curves across the steep side of a combe (valley) near Knook, on the edge of Salisbury Plain.
Echo Lodge Meadows

Visit these three meadows near Royal Wootton Bassett in spring and summer for their vivid wildflower displays.