an ice storm in early 2012. The trees make May Hill an identifiable landmark from many miles away. The younger trees were planted to mark Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. Early maps and accounts show a clump of trees on the top before these plantings. Birds to be seen on the hill include meadow pipit, tree pipit, common redstart and raven, whilst the woods below have a good population of woodcock. History The hill includes a circular trench 100 metres in diameter said to be an Iron Age earthwork, surrounding a mound that is probably a round barrow. There are records of a clump of trees on the summit of May Hill dating back to the later 18th century. The hill was enclosed by an Act of Parliament in 1873. The dwindling clump was replenished in time for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, when most of the trees that give the hill its distinctive character today were planted. An area of 30 ha of the hill passed into the care of the National Trust in 1935, although the summit has remained vested with Longhope Parish Council and registered as a village green. There was further replenishment of the trees in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A plaque on the summit commemorating this reads: The site boundary was amended in 1983. May Hill in cultural life May Hill is associated with the poets Edward Thomas and Robert Frost. John Masefield describes May Hill in his poem "The Everlasting Mercy". Ivor Gurney eulogised "May Hill that Gloucester dwellers 'gainst every sunset see." Composer Gerald Finzi's ashes were scattered on the top in 1973. One of the benches on the summit is dedicated to the Forest of Dean chronicler, Winifred Foley, and her husband, who had moved to the nearby village of Cliffords Mesne in the 1970s. A book of paintings and drawings of May Hill has been published by the artist Valerie McLean. References External links Photos of May Hill on www.geograph.org.uk Photos of May Hill on www.wyenot.com Panoramic view of May Hill Video of May Day sunrise celebration on May Hill (2010) Natural England (SSSI information) Marilyns of England Hills of Gloucestershire Forest of Dean Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1954