Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
![]() | |
Location | Oxfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | SU 732 964 [1] |
Interest | Geological |
Area | 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1986 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Aston Rowant Cutting is a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aston Rowant in Oxfordshire. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site. [3]
Aston Rowant Cutting, also known as the Stokenchurch Gap or Aston Hill cutting, or locally "The Canyon" [4] is a steep chalk cutting, constructed through the Chiltern Hills on the border between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England during the early 1970s for the M40 motorway. It is 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) long and a maximum of 47 metres (154 ft) deep, and is located approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from High Wycombe and close to the village of Stokenchurch. Despite the names, the cutting is in the parish of Lewknor rather than Aston Rowant or Stokenchurch. The cutting (along with the nearby village of Stokenchurch) is subject to frequent heavy fog during the winter months. [5]
The cutting provides the best exposure in central England dating to the Coniacian stage of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 88 million years ago. It is part of the Upper Chalk succession, and at its base there is a fossil rich section which is important in defining the boundary between the Coniacian and the preceding Turonian stage. [6]
Red kites are commonly seen flying within the cutting or on the surrounding downland, making their return after their persecution by game keepers in Victorian times following a successful reintroduction programme organised by the RSPB and Natural England, [7] which selected the Aston Rowant NNR as one of four initial sites in the UK for a captive release programme using birds brought in from Spain. [8] The scheme has been so successful that the population has grown to over 200 pairs and is now self-generating and supplies birds for similar release programmes elsewhere in the UK. [4] [9]
The cutting features prominently in the opening titles to the BBC comedy series The Vicar of Dibley . [10]
The Chiltern Hills are a chalk escarpment in the UK northwest of London, covering 660 square miles (1,700 km2) across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire, stretching 45 miles (72 km) from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast. The hills are 12 miles (19 km) at their widest.
Stokenchurch is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about 3 miles (5 km) south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire and 6 miles (10 km) west of High Wycombe. Stokenchurch is a commuter village, served by junction 5 of the M40 motorway to London, Oxford and Birmingham. The Stokenchurch BT Tower, to the west of the village, is a highly visible landmark on the edge of the Chilterns and pinpoints the village's location for miles ahead.
The Chalk Group is the lithostratigraphic unit which contains the Upper Cretaceous limestone succession in southern and eastern England. The same or similar rock sequences occur across the wider northwest European chalk 'province'. It is characterised by thick deposits of chalk, a soft porous white limestone, deposited in a marine environment.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
Charnage Down Chalk Pit is a 3.7 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, lying east of the town of Mere. The former quarry site was notified in 1971 for its importance in the study of chalk rock from the late Turonian and Coniacian ages.
Catton Grove Chalk Pit is a 0.6-hectare (1.5-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Norwich in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Aston Rowant railway station was opened in 1872 and was a part of the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. Having closed in 1961, there have been proposals to reopen the station not only to the heritage services of the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, but also National Rail commuter services operated by Chiltern Railways.
Boxford Chalk Pit is a 0.4-hectare (0.99-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Boxford in Berkshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Lewknor is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire.The civil parish includes the villages of Postcombe and South Weston. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 663.
Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve is located on the north-west escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has an area of 159.1 hectares, and most of it is a 128.5 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is listed as a Grade 1 site in A Nature Conservation Review. The reserve is in several sections, mostly in the parish of Lewknor in Oxfordshire, with smaller sections in the parish of Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire.
Cowleaze Wood is a 70-acre (28 ha) woodland in the Chiltern Hills, a chalk ridge in South East England. The wood is in the civil parish of Lewknor, in Oxfordshire, about 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) southeast of the village. It is next to the county boundary with Buckinghamshire, and adjoins Lydall's Wood on the Buckinghamshire side of the boundary.
College Lake is a 65 hectare nature reserve in a former chalk quarry in Pitstone in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the flagship reserves of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and it has an information centre, education facilities, a café, toilets and a shop. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area east of the lake is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest called Pitstone Quarry.
Aston Clinton Ragpits is a 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. It is a former chalk quarry, which is now a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Aston Rowant Woods is a 209.7-hectare (518-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Aston Rowant in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Part of it is in Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve, and a large part is in the Chiltern Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation. The site is also in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Fognam Chalk Quarry is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Upper Lambourn in Berkshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is in the North Wessex Downs.
Caistor St Edmund Chalk Pit is a 23.6-hectare (58-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Norwich in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Chinnor Chalk Pit is a 20.4-hectare (50-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
51°39′42″N0°56′17″W / 51.66167°N 0.93806°W