Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
![]() Walbury Hill | |
Location | Berkshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | SU 363 621 [1] |
Coordinates | 51°21′25″N1°28′48″W / 51.357°N 1.480°W Coordinates: 51°21′25″N1°28′48″W / 51.357°N 1.480°W |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 86.8 hectares (214 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1983 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Inkpen and Walbury Hills is an 86.8-hectare (214-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Kintbury in Berkshire. The site is situated on the flanks of Walbury Hill, the highest point in Berkshire and South East England, and the adjacent Inkpen Hill. A Bronze Age cemetery of three bowl barrows on Inkpen Hill is designated a Scheduled Monument. [1] [2] [3] [4]
These hills have the largest area of unimproved chalk downland in the county and much of it is managed by sheep grazing. North facing slopes have many mosses and herbs, such as hoary plantain and germander speedwell. There are also woods and hedgerows which provide a habitat for many species of breeding birds. [5]
Combe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The parish is situated on the top of the North Hampshire Downs near Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet, overlooking the village of Inkpen and the valley of the River Kennet. In Walbury Hill, it includes the highest natural point in South East England.
Combe Gibbet is a gibbet at the top of Gallows Down, near the village and just within the civil parish of Combe in Berkshire.
Walbury Hill is a summit of the North Wessex Downs in Berkshire, England. With an elevation of 297 metres (974 ft), it is the highest natural point in South East England. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp, whilst the flanks of the hill lie within the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI. The hill is one of three nationally important chalk wild grasslands in the North Wessex Downs, the others being in the Rushmore and Conholt Downs SSSI and the Hog's Hole SSSI. The summit of the hill is marked by a triangulation pillar, but lies on private land with no public access, although public access is available to the north of the summit via a byway.
Inkpen is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Hungerford, most of the land of which is cultivated fields with scattered woodland once part of a former forest of Savernake. Inkpen has boundaries with Wiltshire and Hampshire, including parts of Walbury Hill, the highest point in South East England, and Inkpen Hill.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
West Woodhay is a rural scattered village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. At the 2011 census it had 59 households.
Seven Barrows is a Bronze Age bowl barrow cemetery, 4-hectare (9.9-acre) of which are designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, at Upper Lambourn in the civil parish of Lambourn in the English county of Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and it is a Scheduled Monument.
Inkpen Hill is a summit in Berkshire, England, with a maximum elevation of 291 m (955 ft). The hill is about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Newbury on the Hampshire/Berkshire border and is part of the north-facing scarp of the North Hampshire Downs, a chalk ridge within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies between Walbury Hill, the county top of Berkshire, to the east and Ham Hill to the west. Parts of the hill lie within the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI.
Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Letcombe Bassett in Oxfordshire.
The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the southeast, north to the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs, and west to the Dorset Downs.
Croker's Hole is a 4.4-hectare (11-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Upper Lambourn in Berkshire.
Hog's Hole is a 23.7-hectare (59-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the civil parish of Combe in the English county of Berkshire.
Inkpen Crocus Fields is a 3.1-hectare (7.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Inkpen in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
West Woodhay Down is a 1.5-hectare (3.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire and Hampshire. It is lowland Calcareous grassland with a northwest facing bank, and forms part of the northern slopes of Walbury Hill and Combe Hill. The site was formerly included as part of Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI.
Inkpen Common or Inkpen Great Common is a 12.8-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Inkpen in Berkshire. It is managed as a nature reserve by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.