| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Northamptonshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL 091 875 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 54.0 hectares [1] |
| Notification | 1990 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Ashton Wold is a 54.0-hectare (133-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) east of the market town Oundle in Northamptonshire. [1] [2]
It is part of the Ashton Estate, which was purchased in 1860 by Lionel de Rothschild, a banker and politician. His grandson, Charles Rothschild, the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, now The Wildlife Trusts, managed the Ashton Wold estate to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He built Ashton Wold House, which was designed by William Huckvale. The house and its garden are listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by English Heritage for their historic interest, and part of the garden is woodland which is designated as Ashton Wold SSSI.
Part of the estate is the subject of a Restrictive Covenant between Charles's daughter Miriam Rothschild and the National Trust in 1945. [3] Following Charles death in 1923 his wife, Rozsika and their daughter Miriam Rothschild inherited the estate. Miriam pressed the UK Government to allow more German Jews as refugees from Nazi Germany and set up housing for 49 Jewish children. During World War II Ashton Wold estate served as a hospital for wounded military personnel, including Miriam's future husband, Captain George Lane. It also provided accommodation blocks in the Ashton Wold woods for the RAF and the American Eighth Air Force billeted at nearby Polebrook Airfield. [4]
The Ashton Estate comprises residential properties, holiday accommodations (The Lady Rothschild Holiday Houses), agricultural land and a working farm. The current host of The Lady Rothschild Holiday Houses is Dr Charles Daniel Lane. Dr Lane enjoyed an outstanding career as a molecular biologist who along with colleagues Gerard Marbaix and John Gurdon discovered the oocyte exogenous mRNA expression system.
The SSSI is ancient secondary woodland with mature oak, ash and birch trees. The thick shrub layer includes hawthorn and buckthorn. There are breeding birds such as woodcocks and hawfinches. [5]
There is access from Lutton Road.
Hon. Nathaniel Charles Rothschild was an English banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family. He is remembered for The Rothschild List, a list he made in 1915 of 284 sites across Britain that he considered suitable for nature reserves.
Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild was a British natural scientist and author with contributions to zoology, entomology, and botany.
Salcey Forest is a fragment of a former medieval hunting forest east of the village of Hartwell, between Northampton and Newport Pagnell in Northamptonshire. It is managed by Forestry England and to promote biodiversity, and is also commercially exploited for timber products. The eastern third of the forest, an area of 159.6 hectares, is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Hartslock, also known as Hartslock Woods, is a 41.8-hectare (103-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in a wooded area on the north bank of the River Thames to the south-east of Goring-on-Thames in the English county of Oxfordshire. An area of 29.4 hectares is a Special Area of Conservation and an area of 10 hectares is a nature reserve owned and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). The site is well known for the variety of wild orchids that grow on its sloping grassland, and especially for the monkey orchid that grows in very few other places in England.
Cooper's Hill is an 18.1-hectare (45-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Ampthill in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1984, and the planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. A smaller area of 12.7 hectares is also a Local Nature Reserve, Part of the site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Gamlingay Wood is a 48.4-hectare (120-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) north of Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Maulden Wood is a woodland situated in Bedfordshire, England, near the village of Maulden, on the greensand ridge that stretches from Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay. It includes Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill, a 148.8 hectare, biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
High Elms Country Park is an extensive 250-acre (100 ha) public park on the North Downs in Farnborough in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a Local Nature Reserve, and together with the neighbouring Downe Bank, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The park surrounds High Elms Golf Course, and has extensive woodland, chiefly oak and beech, chalk meadows and formal gardens. It also has a cafe, a visitor centre, nature and history trails and car parks.
Lullingstone Country Park is near Eynsford, in Kent, England. A former deer park of a large estate, it was later sold to become an open-space and woodland park. The park and Lullingstone Castle are a Scheduled Monument, and an area of 66.4-hectare (164-acre) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest Kent.
Downe Bank is a nature reserve owned and managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust in the North Downs, close to Downe in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) together with the neighbouring High Elms Country Park. Located close to Charles Darwin's home, Down House, it was one of his favourite places and helped to inspire his work.
Old Park Wood is a 16.7-hectare (41-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The south-east part is an 8-hectare (20-acre) nature reserve owned and managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fens are a 21.3-hectare (53-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Blo' Norton Fen is in the parish of Blo' Norton in Norfolk and Thelnetham Fen is in Thelnetham parish in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and part of the Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation, Thelnetham Fen is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Blo' Norton Fen by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP).
Riddlesdown Common or Riddlesdown is a 43 hectare area of green space in Kenley, towards the northern end of the North Downs in the London Borough of Croydon. It is owned and maintained by the City of London Corporation, apart from two small areas, one of which is operated by the London Wildlife Trust and the other by Croydon Council. An area of 32 hectares is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The name Riddlesdown also applies to the local district of residential housing. A trig point at the site indicates that it is 525 ft (160 m) above sea level.
Dancersend is an 81.3-hectare (201-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. Part of the site is managed by the Forestry Commission and part by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). The BBOWT's 47 hectare nature reserve, called Dancersend with Pavis Woods, extends into fields west of the SSSI. It is in the Chilterns Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Woodham Walter Common SSSI is an 80-hectare (200-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Danbury in Essex. The site includes six nature reserves within the Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves, managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. These are Woodham Walter Common itself, Birch Wood, Pheasanthouse Wood, Poors' Piece, Scrubs Wood and a small area in Pheasanthouse Farm. The largest part of the SSSI is the 32.3-hectare (80-acre) Woodham Walter Common, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust on behalf of Maldon District Council and Woodham Walter Parish Council.
Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves are a group of nature reserves totalling 101 hectares near Danbury in Essex, England. They are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, and most of them are in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Two areas, the Backwarden and Hitchcock's Meadow, are part of Danbury Common SSSI, and Woodham Walter Common, Birch Wood, Pheasanthouse Wood, Poors Piece, Scrubs Wood, and a small area in Pheasanthouse Farm, are part of Woodham Walter Common SSSI.
Brackland Rough is a 10.7-hectare (26-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fordham in Cambridgeshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire as Fordham Woods.
Ulverscroft Valley is a 110.8-hectare (274-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Markfield in Leicestershire. The site is in five separate blocks, and two areas are nature reserves managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT). Lea Meadows is owned by the LRWT and it is also a scheduled monument. Part of Ulverscroft Nature Reserve is owned by the LRWT and part is owned by the National Trust and leased to the LRWT.