Thames Basin Heaths

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Chobham Common looking towards Sunningdale Golf Course Chobham Common - geograph.org.uk - 158274.jpg
Chobham Common looking towards Sunningdale Golf Course

The Thames Basin Heaths are a natural region in southern England in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey, a slightly mottled east-west belt of ecologically recognised and protected land.

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They are recognised as national character area 129 by Natural England, the government's advisor on the natural environment. They cover 118,529 hectares (457.64 sq mi) of countryside. Inset towns include Newbury, Camberley, Ascot and Woking, To the west sit the Berkshire Downs, across similar size, well-drained, and intensively farmed, sports-use or settled Thames floodplains to the north are the similarly protected Chilterns and to the near south are the Hampshire Downs. [1] Not protected as extensively but in significant part adding to the habitats of fauna are the Thames Valley (including Thames Basin lowlands) to the east and as described to the north.

Environment

The terrain of the heathland is characterized by flat or gently sloping plateaux with numerous watercourses incising broad or sometimes steep-sided valleys. Apart from these, the heaths are lower heading east (before the London Basin) and along the main river valleys to the low-lying areas of the Kennet floodplain and lower reaches of the Loddon and its largest tributary, the Blackwater. At the western edge is the chalk scarp of the Hampshire Downs. The highest elevation is 296 metres. [1]

Drainage

The other main watercourses are the Basingstoke Canal, the Kennet & Avon Canal, the Wey, Whitewater, Pang and Mole. [1]

Protected areas

Track through the forestry plantation in the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths SSI Track through Swinley Forest - geograph.org.uk - 714801.jpg
Track through the forestry plantation in the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths SSI

Just over 20,000 hectares (17%) sits in the North Wessex Downs AONB.

The zone has:

There are many Sites of Special Scientific Interest or SSSIs within one of the largest is the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths SSSI where rare types of birds and other species are professionally monitored and conserved.

Much of the east of the zone there can be easily traced a Roman Road, the Devil's Highway (Roman Britain). The region has an Iron Age hillfort, one of several so-named, in this case specifically, Caesar's Camp, Bracknell Forest.

Incursionary barriers

Ecologically near-sterile obstacles to migration, coupled with longstanding biome and habitat loss are significant. Chiefly these are the:

To a lesser extent (the narrower) main routes of rail and road:

No wildlife crossings to abate these obstacles have yet been made.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Kennet</span> Tributary of the River Thames in Southern England

The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB. The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which – together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames – links the cities of Bristol and London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Berkshire</span> Unitary area in the county of Berkshire,England

West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chobham Common</span> Location near Chobham, Surrey, of a British tank research centre

Chobham Common is a 655.7-hectare (1,620-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chobham in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a national nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. It contains three scheduled monuments. Most of the site is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust as the Chobham Common nature reserve, but the SSSI also includes a small private reserve managed by the Trust, Gracious Pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Blackwater (River Loddon)</span> Tributary of the River Loddon in England

The River Blackwater is a tributary of the Loddon in England and sub-tributary of the Thames. It rises at two springs in Rowhill Nature Reserve between Aldershot, Hampshire and Farnham, Surrey. It curves a course north then west to join the Loddon in Swallowfield civil parish, central Berkshire. Part of the river splits Hampshire from Surrey; a smaller part does so as to Hampshire and Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkshire Downs</span> Chalk hills in England

The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Berkshire Downs are wholly within the traditional county of Berkshire, although split between the current ceremonial counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The western parts of the downs are also known as the Lambourn Downs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Wessex Downs</span> National Landscape in England

The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape since 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon Hill, Warnford</span>

Beacon Hill, Warnford is a 46.4-hectare (115-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Warnford in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, and an area of 40.1 hectares is a national nature reserve. There is a round barrow cemetery dating to the Late Neolithic or Bronze Age on the hill, and this is a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennet Valley Alderwoods</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire, England

Kennet Valley Alderwoods is a 57.3-hectare (142-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Newbury in Berkshire. It is a Special Area of Conservation

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Bourne, Addlestone</span> River in northwest Surrey, England

The River Bourne is the name given to a Thames tributary in northwest Surrey, England which has a longer tributary, the Windle Brook, that rises nears Bagshot Park in the south of Swinley Forest, Berkshire, merging with it while flowing through villages north of Woking; downstream the Bourne joins the Thames near Weybridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash to Brookwood Heaths</span> Protected area in Surrey, England, UK

Ash to Brookwood Heaths is a 1,576.3-hectare (3,895-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Guildford in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. An area of 1,392 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths</span>

Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths is an 85.8-hectare (212-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the northern outskirts of Sandhurst in Berkshire. Part of the SSSI is Wildmoor Heath nature reserve, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. and the SSSI is part of Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolmer Forest</span> Forest in Hampshire and West Sussex, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve</span>

Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve (NNR) is located southeast of Tayport in Fife, Scotland. The reserve is made up of three parts, encompassing Morton Lochs, Tentsmuir Point and Tayport Heath, and is managed by NatureScot. The different sections of Tentsmuir NNR were originally designated as separate national nature reserves at different times: the Morton Lochs section was designated in 1952; Tentsmuir Point in 1954; and Tayport Heath in 1988. While these discrete sections are distant from one another, they form part of the extensive dune system at Tentsmuir, and in 2003 SNH combined the three sites to form Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve. The adjoining Tentsmuir Forest is managed by Forestry and Land Scotland and covers most of the land between the three portions of the NNR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampshire Downs</span> Area of downland in southern England, United Kingdom

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorset Heaths</span>

The Dorset Heaths form an important area of heathland within the Poole Basin in southern England. Much of the area is protected.

The Natural Areas of England are regions, officially designated by Natural England, each with a characteristic association of wildlife and natural features. More formally, they are defined as "biogeographic zones which reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes and the wildlife in different parts of England...".

A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, boundaries. They are defined by Natural England, the UK government's advisors on the natural environment.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 NCA 129: Thames Basin Heaths Key Facts & Data at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 6 Apr 2013.