Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Hertfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | TL344400 |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 143.3 hectares |
Notification | 1984 |
Location map | Magic Map |
Therfield Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest [1] [2] and Local Nature Reserve [3] [4] on the chalk escarpment just north of Therfield, Hertfordshire. Since it lies south-west of the town of Royston, it is also known locally as Royston Heath. The heath is a common on which sheep are still regularly grazed. The site offers views towards the north, over the valley of the Cam as far as Cambridge.
The heath contains a long barrow, thought to be Neolithic, and several Bronze Age round barrows, all of which English Heritage classes as scheduled ancient monuments. The round barrow cemetery is the largest known example of its type in Hertfordshire. [5] [6] The heath was reportedly favoured by King James I as a hunting ground. [7]
The highest point of the heath is Therfield Hill. This top reaches 168 m (551 ft), the highest point for twelve miles in every direction with a relative height of about 72 m. The top is crowned by a water tower. Church Hill has many rare pasqueflowers, which flower in early spring. [3]
The Heath can be accessed from Baldock Road.
Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.
Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in Ashbocking, near Ipswich. It was founded in 1961, and is one of 46 wildlife trusts covering the Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of March 2017, it has 13,200 members, and it manages 3,120 hectares of land in 60 nature reserves, most of which are open to the public. It had an income of £3.9 million in the year to 31 March 2017.
Therfield is both a small village of approximately 4,761 acres (19 km²) and a civil parish which sits upon the chalk range, three miles southwest of Royston, and six miles (10 km) northeast of Baldock and within the English county of Hertfordshire.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly 810 hectares north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon. It has over 21,000 members, and is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK. It is a Registered Charity, with its Registered Office in St Albans, and had an income in the year to 31 March 2014 of over £1.5 million.
Blaxhall Common is a nature reserve in the parish of Blaxhall in the East Suffolk District of Suffolk. The reserve is owned by Blaxhall Parish Council and managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is designated a 45.9-hectare (113-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Blaxhall Heath. It is part of the Sandlings Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A Bronze Age bowl barrow is a Scheduled Monument.
Hertford Heath nature reserve is a 28 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hertford Heath in Hertfordshire. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and the local planning authority is East Hertfordshire District Council.
Fox Covert is a 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) nature reserve near Royston in North Hertfordshire. It is owned and managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
Leiston - Aldeburgh is a 534.8-hectare (1,322-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Aldeburgh to Leiston in Suffolk. Part of it is The Haven, Aldeburgh Local Nature Reserve, and another area is the North Warren RSPB nature reserve. There is also a prehistoric bowl barrow on Aldringham Common, which is a Scheduled Monument. The site is in the Sandlings Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Broome Heath is a 31.7-hectare (78-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Ditchingham in Norfolk, England. It is owned by South Norfolk District Council and managed by the Broads Authority. An area in the north is designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Broome Heath Pit, and there is a Scheduled Monument in the middle.
Broome Heath Pit is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Ditchingham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and part of Broome Heath Local Nature Reserve
52°02′32″N0°03′18″W / 52.0423°N 0.05491°W