Deacon Hill SSSI
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
View from Deacon Hill | |
Location | Bedfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | TL123295 |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 35.4 hectares |
Notification | 1984 |
Location map | Magic Map |
Deacon Hill SSSI is a 35.4-hectare (87-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pegsdon in Bedfordshire.[1][2] It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is part of the Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit nature reserve, managed by Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.[3]
The site is calcareous grassland which is rich in plant species, some of which are uncommon.[1] Birds include lapwings and buzzards, and there are butterflies such as dingy and grizzled skippers. There are also the remains of ancient strip lynchet fields.[3]
The SSSI covers part of Deacon Hill and part of the adjacent Pegsdon Hills.[2] This is a remnant of semi-natural chalk downland and the calcareous soil supports a characteristic range of grasses and herbs. The main grasses present are sheep’s fescue, false oat-grass and upright brome. Forbs found here include spring sedge, autumn gentian, yellow-wort, fragrant orchid, common spotted-orchid, common milkwort, common rock-rose, cowslip, eyebright, clustered bellflower, harebell, carline thistle, wild thyme, marjoram and moschatel. There are also wild candytuft, field fleawort and pasque flower, all of which are rare in Bedfordshire.[1][3]
There is also some scrubland, the main trees being hawthorn, which often invades chalk downland, a buckthorn and wayfaring tree, with black bryony and old man's beard; false-brome usually dominates the ground flora in scrubby areas. There are glowworms, and grizzled skipper and dingy skipper butterflies.[1][3]
There is access to the site from Hitchin Road.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "Deacon Hill citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Map of Deacon Hill". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit". Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
51°57′10″N 0°22′02″W / 51.9527°N 0.3673°W / 51.9527; -0.3673
- v
- t
- e
- Barton Hills
- Blow's Down
- Cooper's Hill
- Deacon Hill
- Dropshort Marsh
- Dunstable and Whipsnade Downs
- Fancott Woods and Meadows
- Felmersham Gravel Pits
- Flitwick Moor
- Galley and Warden Hills
- Hanger Wood
- Houghton Regis Marl Lakes
- Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths
- Kings Wood and Glebe Meadows, Houghton Conquest
- Knocking Hoe
- Marston Thrift
- Maulden Church Meadow
- Maulden Heath
- Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill
- Nares Gladley Marsh
- Odell Great Wood
- Potton Wood
- Pulloxhill Marsh
- Sandy Warren
- Smithcombe, Sharpenhoe and Sundon Hills
- Southill Lake and Woods
- Stevington Marsh
- Sundon Chalk Quarry
- Swineshead Wood
- Tebworth Marsh
- Tilwick Meadow
- Totternhoe Chalk Quarry
- Totternhoe Knolls
- Wavendon Heath Ponds
- Yelden Meadows