Totternhoe Chalk Quarry

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Totternhoe Chalk Quarry
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Totternhoe Chalk Quarry 5.JPG
Location Bedfordshire
Grid reference SP986225
InterestBiological
Area13.4 hectares
Notification 1990
Location map Magic Map

Totternhoe Chalk Quarry is a 13.4-hectare (33-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire. [1] [2] Part of it lies in Totternhoe nature reserve, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. [3] The site is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [4]

The site is a disused medieval quarry [5] for Totternhoe stone, a durable chalk which was used for buildings including Westminster Abbey. The steeply sloping spoil heaps have developed into grasslands which have a wide variety of flowers, including orchids. [6] Grass chalkland is a habitat under threat, and the site has a number of rare plant species, including great pignut. It also has butterflies such as the chalkhill blue and the nationally rare Duke of Burgundy. [1]

There is access from a footpath between Sewell Cutting and Totternhoe and from Totternhoe Knolls, which is also part of Totternhoe nature reserve.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totternhoe nature reserve</span>

Totternhoe nature reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN). The 31 hectare site is in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire, and it includes parts of three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Totternhoe Knolls is a biological SSSI owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of it is managed jointly by the National Trust and the WTBCN, excluding Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is part of the SSSI but not of WTBCN's nature reserve. Totternhoe nature reserve also includes the geological SSSI, Totternhoe Stone Pit, which is not open to the public, and other areas owned by WTBCN, including part of Totternhoe Chalk Quarry, another biological SSSI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College Lake nature reserve</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "Totternhoe Chalk Quarry citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. "Map of Totternhoe Chalk Quarry". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. Trust noticeboard at the entrance to Totternhoe nature reserve near the National Trust car park
  4. Langslow, Derek. The Chilterns. English Nature. p. 39.
  5. 1446: Common Plea Rolls; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no740/bCP40no740dorses/IMG_1965.htm, county margin Bed, second entry; plaintiffs: Wm Halle & John Heyworth, defendant John Prudde; "quaryour"
  6. "Totternhoe". Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Retrieved 9 September 2015.

Coordinates: 51°53′31″N0°34′04″W / 51.891883°N 0.567876°W / 51.891883; -0.567876