Galley and Warden Hills

Last updated
Galley and Warden Hills
Site of Special Scientific Interest
CowsWarden.jpg
Cows on Warden Hill
Location Bedfordshire
Grid reference TL092265
InterestBiological
Area47.0 hectares
Notification 1986
Location map Magic Map

Galley and Warden Hills is a 47 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Warden Hill, a suburb of Luton in Bedfordshire. The local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council, and it was notified in 1986 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. [1] [2] It is also a Local Nature Reserve. [3] [4]

The site is chalk grassland with areas of dense scrub, and it has many plants which are rare nationally and locally. [1] It has a wide variety of wild flowers and more than twenty species of butterflies. Near the top of Galley Hill there are two Bronze Age barrows, one of which was used for public executions in the Middle Ages. [3]

The Icknield Way Path passes through the hills on its 110-mile course from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk.

There is access from Warden Hill Road. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esher Commons</span> Several large wooded areas to the south-west of Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom

Esher Commons is a 360.1-hectare (890-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Esher in Surrey. It includes Esher Common, Fairmile Common, West End Common and Oxshott Heath. Esher Common and West End Common are Local Nature Reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooper's Hill, Bedfordshire</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Wood, Heath and Reach</span>

King's Wood is an area of ancient woodland in the parish of Heath and Reach in Bedfordshire, England. The wood lies north of the village of Heath and Reach and east of Great Brickhill and with neighboring Bakers Wood forms the largest area of ancient woodland in Bedfordshire. Much of the wood lies within Kings Wood and Rushmere National Nature Reserve, jointly owned and managed by the Greensand Trust, Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, Central Bedfordshire Council and Tarmac Aggregates. Kings Wood and many parts of the National Nature Reserve are part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest named Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths, which also includes Rammamere Heath in Buckinghamshire and Shire Oak Heath in Bedfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit</span> Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit is a 79-hectare (200-acre) nature reserve in Pegsdon in Bedfordshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The site is on the border between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and it covers Pegsdon Hills and part of the adjacent Deacon Hill in Bedfordshire, and Hoo Bit in Hertfordshire. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and part of the site is designated by Natural England as the Deacon Hill SSSI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totternhoe Knolls</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherry Hinton Pit</span>

Cherry Hinton Pit is a 12.8-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the south-eastern outskirts of Cambridge. The site consists of East Pit and most of the smaller West Pit. East Pit is part of the Limekiln Close and East Pit Local Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire under the name Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits. West Pit is a separate Local Nature Reserve (LNR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dogsthorpe Star Pit</span> Nature reserve in Peterborough, England

Dogsthorpe Star Pit is a 36.4-hectare (90-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)) on the eastern outskirts of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. It is also designated a Local Nature Reserve, and it is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths</span>

Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths is a 212.8-hectare (526-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) between Heath and Reach in Bedfordshire and Great Brickhill in Buckinghamshire. The site is mainly in Bedfordshire but includes Rammamere Heath in Buckinghamshire. It was notified in 1984 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authorities are Central Bedfordshire Council and Aylesbury Vale Council. Part of it is a National Nature Reserve, and part of it is a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. it is also a Nature Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deacon Hill SSSI</span> Protected area in Bedfordshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddlesdown Common</span> Green space in Kenley, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northaw Great Wood</span>

Northaw Great Wood is a 223.6-hectare (553-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Cuffley in Hertfordshire, England. It covers Northaw Great Wood Country Park, which is managed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, Well Wood, Justice Hill and Grimes Bottom. Part of the site is managed by Hertfordshire County Council as a schools' park. The country park is also a local nature reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Acres Pit</span>

Nine Acres Pit is a 20.7-hectare (51-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Importance north-east of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1986 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totternhoe nature reserve</span>

Totternhoe nature reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN). The 31-hectare (77-acre) site is in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire, and it includes parts of three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Totternhoe Knolls is a biological SSSI owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of it is managed jointly by the National Trust and the WTBCN, excluding Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is part of the SSSI but not of WTBCN's nature reserve. Totternhoe nature reserve also includes the geological SSSI, Totternhoe Stone Pit, which is not open to the public, and other areas owned by WTBCN, including part of Totternhoe Chalk Quarry, another biological SSSI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blindley Heath SSSI</span> UK Site of Specific Scientific Interest

Blindley Heath SSSI is a 26.3-hectare (65-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the hamlet Blindley Heath, on the southern outskirts of Godstone in Surrey. It is also a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by Godstone Parish Council and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust

References

  1. 1 2 "Galley and Warden Hills citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  2. "Map of Galley and Warden Hills". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Galley and Warden Hills SSSI". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  4. "Map of Galley and Warden Hills SSSI". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 26 August 2015.

51°55′41″N0°24′54″W / 51.928°N 0.415°W / 51.928; -0.415