Ruxley Gravel Pits

Last updated
Ruxley Gravel Pits
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Ruxley Gravel Pits.JPG
Ruxley Gravel Pits viewed from Edgington Way
Location Greater London
Grid reference TQ474700
InterestBiological
Area18.7 hectares
Notification 1985
Location map Magic Map

Ruxley Gravel Pits is an 18.7-hectare (46-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Ruxley, Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, and originally dug between 1929 and 1951. It is also a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. It is owned by the Environment Agency [1] [2] and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. [3] Natural England has assessed its condition as "unfavourable recovering". [4]

Contents

The site comprises four gravel pits, and the River Cray runs through three of them, while the fourth is fed by springs. Gravel extraction took place from 1929 to 1951, and once it ceased the pits attracted many species of birds and a diverse range of plants. In 1975 the site was designated an SSSI. [5] [1]

Over 500 species of vascular plants and 169 of birds have been recorded, including song thrush, reed bunting, kingfisher and skylark. Fifty-three of the bird species are breeding. Insects include 23 species of butterfly, 9 dragonfly and over 500 beetles. This variety reflects the diversity of habitat: wooded islands, fringes of mature trees, scrub, fen and open water. Vegetation on the banks include the rare club rush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani . The open water areas have rafts of yellow and white water-lily. [5] [1]

Access to the site is reserved to members of the Orpington and District Angling Society and permit holders. It is closed to members of the public. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is one of 46 local Wildlife Trusts around the UK working to promote and protect local wildlife. It covers the whole of Derbyshire and was founded in 1962 in response to environmental threats to the local countryside, since when it has continued to grow. The Trust is now based at East Mill on the River Derwent in the town of Belper, Derbyshire. It is a Registered Charity, supported by more than 14,000 members and over 500 volunteers.

Cotswold Water Park

The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest marl lake system, straddling the Wiltshire–Gloucestershire border, northwest of Cricklade and south of Cirencester. There are 180 lakes, spread over 42 square miles (110 km2).

Ruxley Human settlement in England

Ruxley is a small settlement in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries. It is located 21 km (13 mi) southeast by east of Charing Cross, in the northeast corner of the London Borough of Bromley on the borough boundary with the southeast corner of the London Borough of Bexley, and is also adjacent to the Greater London border with Kent, overlapping into the Sevenoaks District and Borough of Dartford in Kent. Ruxley lies east of Sidcup and west of Swanley, on green belt land, where two main roads pass through east-west connecting London to the coast. Ruxley was a parish prior to 1557 and had its own thirteenth century church, St Botolph's. Ruxley's central location on the main road made it an important meeting place for the Hundred of Ruxley, which was named after it. Today still a major transport route, Ruxley's location on green belt land is on the edge of London's urban sprawl, industrial and residential areas are found on the west side, but to the east this quickly turns into more rural woodland and farmland. Ruxley Gravel Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest located on the west side of Ruxley. Today the area is known for Ruxley Manor, a large site with a garden centre and other retailers and services.

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits is a 73.7-hectare (182-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre.

Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths

Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths is a 1,696.3-hectare (4,192-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Berkshire and Surrey that extend from a minority of the parish of Crowthorne including around Broadmoor Hospital in the west to Bagshot south-east, Bracknell north-east, and Sandhurst, south. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Two nature reserves which are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust are in the SSSI, Barossa nature reserve and Poors Allotment. Broadmoor Bottom, which is part of Wildmoor Heath, also falls within the SSSI; this reserve is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Ingrebourne Marshes

Ingrebourne Marshes are a 74.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve includes a small part of the SSSI west of the River Ingrebourne. The site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust

Thorpe Park No 1 Gravel Pit

Thorpe Park No 1 Gravel Pit is a 42.5-hectare (105-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) east of Virginia Water in Surrey. It is part of the Thorpe Park theme park.

Lackford Lakes

Lackford Lakes is a 105.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) north and east of Lackford in Suffolk. The SSSI is part of the 131 hectare Lackford Lakes nature reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 17.7-hectare (44-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aldermaston in Berkshire. An area of 8 hectares is a nature reserve called Decoy Heath, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Old Park Wood

Old Park Wood is a 16.7-hectare (41-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The south-east part is an 8-hectare (20-acre) nature reserve owned and managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

Frays Farm Meadows

Frays Farm Meadows is a 28.2-hectare (70-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Denham in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was notified as an SSSI in 1981, and has been managed by the London Wildlife Trust on behalf of Hillingdon Council since 1999. It is part of the Colne Valley Regional Park.

Mid Colne Valley

Mid Colne Valley is a 132 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon and Denham in South Buckinghamshire. Its main importance lies in its extensive diversity of birdlife in lakes in former gravel pits.

Wansunt Pit

Wansunt Pit is a 1.9 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dartford Heath between Crayford in the London Borough of Bexley and Dartford in Kent. It is also a Geological Conservation Review site. It is important geologically because it exposes the Dartford Heath Gravel, and the relationship of this exposure to the Swanscombe sequence and the Thames Terraces is a controversial issue in Thames Pleistocene studies. The site is part of Braeburn Park, a nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust.

Whelford Meadow

{{Infobox SSSI |image=[[Image:Carex tomentosa inflorescence.jpg|200px|]] |image_caption=Example - downy-fruited sedge |name=Whelford Meadow |aos=Gloucestershire |interest=Biological |gridref=SP168000 |coordinates = 51.698946°N 1.757592°W |area=1.86 hectare |notifydate=1985 |enref=1003804 }}

Summer Leys

Summer Leys is a local nature reserve at Wollaston in the Upper Nene Valley, in Northamptonshire, England. It is owned by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit

Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit is a 58.0-hectare (143-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wraysbury in Berkshire. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site, and Special Protection Area. The lake has a surface area of 39.6 hectares(97.85 acres). The site has an area of 58.0-hectare (143-acre) and the lake 39.6-hectare (98-acre). The pit was excavated in the 1920s and 1930s with gravel being removed from the site. Over the years plants and wildlife have colonised the area and it is now mature.

Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits

Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits is a 117.2-hectare (290-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wraysbury in Berkshire. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.

Holborough to Burham Marshes

Holborough to Burham Marshes is a 149.8-hectare (370-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest Kent. Holborough Marshes and Burham Marsh are managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust.

Papercourt Marshes

Papercourt Marshes is a 10-hectare (25-acre) nature reserve in the south-east of the borough of Woking in Surrey. It is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. A roughly 50 hectares lake and associated surrounds, including the marshes totalling 20.0 hectares is designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Papercourt.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Natural England, Ruxley Gravel Pits citation
  2. "Ruxley Gravel Pits". Greenspace Information for Greater London. 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  3. "Ruxley Gravel Pits". Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  4. Natural England, SSSI Unit information, Ruxley Gravel Pits
  5. 1 2 Ruxley Gravel Pits, History of Ruxley Archived 2011-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Notice on the entrance to the site in Edgington Way

Coordinates: 51°24′36″N0°07′01″E / 51.410°N 0.117°E / 51.410; 0.117