| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Bedfordshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL170390 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 148.8 hectares |
| Notification | 1986 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Maulden Wood is a woodland situated in Bedfordshire, England, near the village of Maulden, on the greensand ridge that stretches from Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay. It includes Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill, a 148.8 hectare, biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [1] [2]
Maulden Wood is classed as a semi-natural broadleaf woodland, on acidic grassland and includes some conifer plantations. Paths through the lead can be reached from Maulden Church, through Church Field, and from the A6 road layby through the wood. There are grasslands in the centre of the wood. They are managed by the Greensand Trust and Forestry England.
Much of Maulden Wood is designated as an (SSSI) for the acidic grassland and heathland interest, and wildlife includes badger sets, foxes, and barn owls. The site is important for invertebrates and plants which are indicative of the varied clay and sandy gravel soil. One notable invertebrate is limax cinereoniger, a mollusc that is also indicative of unmanaged ancient woodlands. The rare Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis also grows in the drier places deep in the wood.
The northern end of the wood is also an SSSI because of its importance as one of Bedfordshire's largest remnants of ancient woodland in addition to the nearby King's Wood. Maulden wood is green most of the year round due to the large percentage of pine and other evergreen trees. Hedgerows around the perimeter contain bindweed, sticky willy, honeysuckle, and trumpet flowers (Bindweed). Snowdrops and cowslips grow prolifically in the early spring. In the mid to late spring, bluebells can be found in the middle of the wood and on the waysides. The southern end of the wood is sometimes called Pennyfather's wood. It is situated on greensand, whereas the rest of Maulden Wood is situated on a cap of glacial boulder clay.
There also some rare species of sawfly (Symphyta, Pamphilius sylvarum and Caliroa cinxia, which feed on the resident oak (Quercus) trees. Another sawfly, Pamphilius gyllenhali, has been recorded in the wood, which feeds on willow Salix alba. There are also notable species from several major invertebrate groups including the beetles, dragonflies and butterflies. [1]
The north of Maulden Wood includes several Roman and Iron Age archaeological sites along Limbersey Lane and on the site of Limbersey Farm. There are also sites within the wood of medieval origin, especially on the north end of the wood, and on the west (Maulden) end of the wood.
The north end of the lay by on the A6 is the site of the 1961 A6 murder.
Maulden Wood is open to the public all year round. It is accessed from the Deadman's Hill layby on the A6 adjacent to the wood. [3] and from Maulden Church Meadow.
Bookham Commons are two commons, situated just to the north of the villages of Great Bookham and Little Bookham, in Surrey, England, 154.7 hectares in extent; the individual parts are named Great Bookham Common and Little Bookham Common. A group of dwellings known as the Isle of Wight is situated within the site, and a track, Common Road, leads to it from the northwest. Little Bookham Common lies south and west of this track, whereas Great Bookham Common lies to the east.
The Great Fen is a habitat restoration project being undertaken on The Fens in the county of Cambridgeshire in England. It is one of the largest restoration projects in the country, and aims to create a 3,700 hectare wetland and aims to connect Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR), Holme Fen NNR and other nature reserves to create a larger site with conservation benefits for wildlife and socio-economic benefits for people.
Black Down and Sampford Commons is a 155.2-hectare (384-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Devon and Somerset, notified in 1952.
Brampton Wood is a 132.1-hectare (326-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire. The site is west of Brampton in Cambridgeshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
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.
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).
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.
Woolmer Forest is a 1,298.5-hectare (3,209-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Bordon in Hampshire and West Sussex. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protection Area. Two areas are Nature Conservation Review sites, Grade I.
Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods is a 665.5-hectare (1,644-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954.
Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake is a 56.8-hectare (140-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1974.
Dixton Wood is a 13.14-hectare (32.5-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 2000. Dixton Wood is recognised as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.
Highbury Wood is a 50.74-hectare (125.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1983.
Hanger Wood is an ancient woodland and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the parish of Stagsden, Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom. Situated approximately one kilometre east of the village of Stagsden, the 24.12 hectares woodland was declared a SSSI in 1988, being described by Natural England as "one of the best remaining examples of wet ash-maple woodland in Bedfordshire". The name "Hanger" comes from Old English/Anglo-Saxon term for "wood on a hill" or "wooded hill", applied to Hanger Wood due to its situation on a northwest-facing slope of a narrow ridge. Commenting on the wood's character, A. Simco said in 1984 that "It has been strongly influenced by the geology and topography of the area, particularly by the south-west/north-east boulder clay ridge along which the parish boundary runs."
Odell Great Wood is an ancient woodland and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Odell in Bedfordshire. Located around the centre of the parish of Odell, the site was described by Natural England as "in many respects the best example in Bedfordshire" of wet ash-maple woodland, and in historical sources as "the noblest wood in this county". Being one of the largest of Bedfordshire's ancient woodlands, the wood hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna in its ash, oak and hazel coppice habitat.
Maulden Church Meadow is a 4.1-hectare (10-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Maulden in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1987 under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. Most of it is also a Local Nature Reserve, owned and managed by Central Bedfordshire Council.
Maulden Heath is a 7.6-hectare (19-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Maulden 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. The site is owned by the Forestry Commission and managed by The Greensand Trust.
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.