Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Oxfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | SU 467 994 [1] |
Interest | Biological Geological |
Area | 4.2 hectares (10 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1986 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Dry Sandford Pit is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site [3] and it is managed as a nature reserve by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. [4]
This former sand quarry exposes a sequence of limestone rocks laid down in shallow coastal waters during the Oxfordian stage of the Jurassic, around 160 million years ago. It has many fossil ammonites. It has diverse calcareous habitats, including fen, grassland, scrub and heath. It is nationally important entomologically, especially for bees and wasps. [5]
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain is a 23.4-hectare (58-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in six widely separated areas in the floodplains of the River Lambourn in Berkshire and the River Kennet in Wiltshire, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and part of the Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain Special Area of Conservation. One of the areas, Rack Marsh, is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Thatcham Reed Beds is a 67.4-hectare (167-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Newbury in Berkshire. It is part of the Kennet & Lambourn Floodplain Special Area of Conservation and an area of 14 hectares is a Local Nature Reserve. An area of 35 hectares is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Dry Sandford is a village in the Vale of White Horse district of England, about 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Abingdon. It is one of two villages in the civil parish of St Helen Without. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.
Bacombe and Coombe Hills is a 76.4-hectare (189-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Upper Bacombe in Buckinghamshire. Bacombe Hill was formerly owned by Buckinghamshire County Council, which transferred it to Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust in 2014. Coombe Hill is owned by the National Trust.
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.
Frilford Heath, Ponds and Fens is a 108.8-hectare (269-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Frilford, west of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. An area of 3 hectares, separate from the main site is Hitchcopse Pit, a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Hook Norton Cutting and Banks is a 6.7-hectare (17-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Hook Norton in Oxfordshire. The site is in three areas, two of which are managed as a nature reserve called Hook Norton Cutting by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. and are designated a Geological Conservation Review site.
Ardley Cutting and Quarry is a 40.1-hectare (99-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Bicester in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and an area of 11 hectares is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust as Ardley Wood Quarry. The site contains a Scheduled Monument, Ardley Wood moated ringwork, a Norman defended enclosure.
Parsonage Moor is a 6-hectare (15-acre) nature reserve north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Cothill Fen, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. Part of it is in Cothill Fen and Parsonage Moor Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.
Cothill Fen is a 43.3-hectare (107-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It is a Special Area of Conservation and parts of it are a Geological Conservation Review site, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, and a National Nature Reserve. It also includes two areas which are nature reserves managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, Lashford Lane Fen and Parsonage Moor.
Hitchcopse Pit is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) nature reserve north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Frilford Heath, Ponds and Fens, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Lashford Lane Fen is a 7-hectare (17-acre) nature reserve north of Dry Sandford in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Cothill Fen, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.