Calstone and Cherhill Downs (grid reference SU047692 ) is a 128.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971, including downland at Calstone Wellington and Cherhill. It provides one of the best examples in Wiltshire of unimproved downland. [1]
The site forms part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site lies towards the western edge of the Marlborough Downs, has a narrow plateau of the Middle and Upper Chalk and descends steeply to the north and more gently to the south. The south-facing slope has a complex structure of narrow, steep-sided dry valleys and coombes and has a mixture of grasses, sedges and forbs. Here grow a typical calcareous community including glaucus sedge, sheep’s-fescue, meadow oat-grass, heath-grass and common quaking-grass, together with cowslip, salad burnet, rock-rose, betony, field fleawort, bastard-toadflax, round-headed rampion, small scabious, devil’s-bit scabious, horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch and chalk milkwort. Orchids found here include, early purple orchid, burnt orchid, fragrant orchid, bee orchid and frog orchid, the last three all being common here. [1]
The site is also excellent for invertebrates, hosting the small blue, chalkhill blue, Duke of Burgundy and marsh fritillary, as well as the rare wart-biter bush cricket and the uncommon bug Sehirus dubius The lime-loving heath snail Helicella itala is also found here. There is a dewpond that holds water all year round; newts are found here as well as the Emperor dragonfly and the azure damselfly Coenagrion puella . [1]
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in southern England covering 300 square miles (780 km2). It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, but stretches into Hampshire.
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs. The North Downs Way National Trail runs along the North Downs from Farnham to Dover.
Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of 1,877 hectares. The site is a bridging point over the river: on the opposite bank are Bramber and Steyning, making the whole area somewhat built-up. The civil parish also includes the smaller village of Small Dole to the north, and the village of Edburton to the northeast.
Baverstock Juniper Bank is a 2.6 hectare Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest to the north of the village of Baverstock in Wiltshire, England. Baverstock Juniper Bank is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The ungrazed chalk grassland is home to over 500 bushes of the lowland juniper, Juniperus communis, subspecies communis. Their seeds attract flocks of finches and yellowhammers to the location as a feeding site in winter. Uncommon species such a horseshoe vetch and pyramidal orchid are to be found at the SSSI. Butterflies such as the brimstone, speckled wood and small heath have been seen visiting the site.
Bratton Downs is a 395.8 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, near the villages of Bratton and Edington, and about 3 miles (5 km) east of the town of Westbury. It was notified in 1971. The designated area consists mainly of chalk grassland, as well as some ancient woodland, and supports a diverse range of native flora and fauna. It overlays notable geological features—principally landforms created by glaciation in the Pleistocene.
Arreton Down is a 29.77 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight, originally notified in 1979 for its geological interest and then renotified in 1987, but for its biological interest only. It is public access land and popular with early morning dog walkers, who park near the chalk pit entrance. The land is marked by extensive ancient field features as yet unexcavated.
Yarnbury Castle is the site of a multiphase, multivallate Iron Age hillfort near the village of Steeple Langford, Wiltshire, England. The site covers an area of 28.5 acres (11.5 ha), and was extensively surveyed and investigated by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1991, with finds of Iron Age and Romano-British pottery, Iron Age and Roman coins, and burials of human remains. There is much evidence of prolonged and extensive settlement of the site, including evidence of around 130 structures of various sizes, most probably representing a mix of round houses, pits, and other features. It was designated as a scheduled monument in 1925.
Long Knoll is a hill in the west of the English county of Wiltshire. It is a ridge of chalk grassland, some 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) in length, and forms the boundary between the civil parishes of Kilmington to the south and Maiden Bradley to the north. The ridge is 288 metres (945 ft) above sea level at its highest point and it is possible to view King Alfred's Tower, Cranmore Tower, the Black Mountains and Glastonbury Tor on clear days.
Pewsey Downs is a 305.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern edge of the Marlborough Downs north of Pewsey in Wiltshire, notified in 1951. It includes the Pewsey Downs National Nature Reserve.
Ham Hill is a hill and area of chalk downland in Wiltshire, England, on the steep banks running alongside the road from the village of Ham to Buttermere, close to the Berkshire border. A biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified in 1971, covers 1.5 hectares of the site; this designation is due to the site's species-rich plant and insect communities, which include some rare species. Notable among these is the musk orchid, which has been confirmed at only one other site in Wiltshire.
Park Gate Down or Parkgate Down is a 7-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Stelling Minnis in Kent. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust,
The Folkestone Downs are an area of chalk downland above Folkestone, where the eastern end of the North Downs escarpment meets the English Channel. Part of the Downs is the Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated for its geological and biological interest.
Totternhoe Knolls is a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire. It is also a local nature reserve, and part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of the site is maintained jointly by the National Trust and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN), and is part of the WTBCN Totternhoe nature reserve, which also includes Totternhoe Chalk Quarry and Totternhoe Stone Pit. The SSSI also includes Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is a Scheduled monument.
Deacon Hill SSSI is a 35.4-hectare (87-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pegsdon in Bedfordshire. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is part of the Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit nature reserve, managed by Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Letcombe Bassett in Oxfordshire.
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.
Ashford Hill is a British national nature reserve next to the village of Ashford Hill in Hampshire. Part of the reserve is a designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The site is one of Natural Englands nature reserves
Ron Ward's Meadow With Tadley Pastures is a site of Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is based on the edge of Tadley in Hampshire, England. It is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Ladies Mile is a 13.6-hectare (34-acre) Local Nature Reserve to the east of Patcham, on the northern outskirts of Brighton in East Sussex. The area was designated in 2003 and is owned and managed by Brighton and Hove City Council.
Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill is a 321 ha (790-acre) biological and geological Downland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) north of Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and it includes Devil's Dyke Geological Conservation Review site.