The hill provides a range of habitats with both wet and dry heathland, coniferous and broadleaf woodland and scrubland; and is home to some rare flora and fauna including the sand lizard, smooth snake, silver-studded blue butterfly and two types of carnivorous plant.

Large numbers of Mesolithic and a few Paleolithic tools have been found there and across the local area, including a flint knapping site at nearby Ramsdown Hill.

[7] The presence of long barrows in the adjacent Stour valley shows Neolithic people were using the area but there is no direct evidence they visited the hill.

[11] Christchurch Harbour was an important trading port in the Iron Age and through the Saxon and Roman periods; and the hill overlooks the Avon and Stour rivers, both navigable, until the 18th century, as far as Salisbury and Blandford respectively.

[12][13] Fragments of Roman pottery have been found in a ditch, which appears to be part of a fortification or signal station overlooking the main road from Christchurch to Wimborne and an important fording point on the Stour.

This appears to have been granted without the knowledge of the Bishop of Winchester, John de Stratford, who prohibited regular services being held there until the matter had been fully investigated.

The Bournemouth Archaeological Association directed by Michael Ridley, found a number of artefacts, including an ichthys drawn on a piece of stone, glazed and unglazed pottery, and some shards of mediaeval coloured glass.

During the Crimean War, when a battalion of the Royal Horse Artillery was stationed at Christchurch Barracks, the hill was used for training in the pulling and unlimbering of guns on rough terrain.

[22][23] In the early 20th century, sand and gravel extraction took place on part of the hill, such as on the east side of the plateau, where the whole of what was once Toothill has been removed.

[24] A survey conducted in 2012, showed that the hill was mainly used for leisure and educational activities, such as walking, jogging, cycling and horse riding.

[27] A local branch of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation group (ARC) manage an area of heath on the north and east sides of the hill, and is one of a number of groups that conduct guided walks around the hill and surrounding area;[28][29] while on the south side, the local gun club practises target shooting in one of the old, disused quarries.

[30] A number of these strata can be observed at the old quarry works and are believed to have been deposited during a fluvial or estuarine period, rather than the more commonly associated, marine environment.

[34][35] It is composed mainly of heather and dwarf shrubs but there are bare sandy areas where the rare mossy stonecrop (Crassula tillaea) is able to flourish.

[35] All six native species of reptile breed here including the endangered sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) and smooth snake (Coronella austriaca).

[36] Many of these species also use the area for breeding, along with the rare Dartford warbler (Sylvia undata), woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) and nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus).

The scarce chaser (Libellula fulva), hairy dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) and downy emerald (Cordulia aenea) make use of the ponds in the wetter areas of the heath,[36] while the heath grasshopper (Chorthippus vagans) is found on the sandy areas among the heather, along with the silver-studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus).