The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Chew Valley and other tributaries of the Avon to the north. The hills give their name to the local government district of Mendip, which administers most of the area. The higher, western part of the hills, covering 198 km2 (76 sq mi) has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which gives it a level of protection comparable to a national park.
Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing 318 feet (97 m) high and extending 1.5 miles (2 km) into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.
Burrington Combe is a Carboniferous Limestone gorge near the village of Burrington, on the north side of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in North Somerset, England.
Ebbor Gorge is a limestone gorge in Somerset, England, designated and notified in 1952 as a 63.5-hectare (157-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Mendip Hills. It was donated to the National Trust in 1967 and is now managed by Natural England as a national nature reserve.
The North Somerset Levels is a coastal plain, an expanse of low-lying flat ground, which occupies an area between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol in North Somerset, England. The River Banwell, River Kenn, River Yeo and Land Yeo are the three principal rivers draining the area.
Cleaves Wood is a 40.38 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near the village of Wellow in Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1988.
Dolebury Warren is a 90.6 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and ancient monument near the villages of Churchill and Rowberrow in North Somerset, part of South West England. It is owned by the National Trust, who acquired the freehold in 1983, and managed by the Avon Wildlife Trust.
Shiplate Slait is a 33.9 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Loxton, within the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, North Somerset, notified in 1987.
Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill is a 332.2 hectare (820.9 acre) geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the western end of the Mendip Hills, Somerset. The line of hills runs for approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from west to east and includes: Crook Peak, Compton Hill, Wavering Down, Cross Plain and Shute Shelve Hill. Most of the site is owned by the National Trust, which bought 725 acres (293 ha) in 1985, and much of it has been designated as common land. It was notified as an SSSI by Natural England in 1952.
Cheddar Wood is an 86.9-hectare (215-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1967.
The Perch is a 72.1 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest close to Cheddar Gorge in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. It received SSSI notification in 1990.
The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1952.
Windsor Hill Marsh is a 0.84 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, north of the town of Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and adjacent to the Windsor Hill Quarry geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It was notified in January 1972.
Ham Hill is an 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.
NVC community CG1 is one of the calcicolous grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of three short-sward communities associated with heavy grazing, within the lowland calcicolous grassland group, and is regarded as the south-west coastal counterpart of "typical" chalk grassland.
Trinia glauca (Honewort) is a low-growing umbellifer found in rocky areas.
Grass Wood is an ancient woodland of 88 hectares in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, that has an exceptional ground flora of woodland wildflowers.
Cassop Vale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Durham City district of County Durham, England. It lies between the villages of Bowburn and Cassop, 7 km south-east of the centre of Durham..
Raisby Hill Grassland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in east County Durham, England. It lies just over 1 km east of the village of Coxhoe.
Sherburn Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It lies just south of the road between the villages of Sherburn and Sherburn Hill, some 5.5 km east of Durham city. A disused quarry occupies part of the site.
