Tetrahedral and octahedral ordering in synthetic clinochlore with compositions (Mg5Al)[Si3Al]O-10(OH)(8) and (Mg4.56Al1.44)[Si2.58Al1.42]O-10(OH)(8) have been studied by Si-29, Al-27, and H-1 MAS NMR spectroscopy. The Si-29 spectra indicate that Al-O-Al avoidance occurs on tetrahedral sites with considerable short-range order in accordance with the Homogeneous Dispersion of Charges (HDC) model of Herrero et al. (1985a), in which charge imbalance within the tetrahedral sheets is minimized. The H-1 MAS NMR spectra indicate that every Al-[6] is surrounded by six Mg octahedra.