Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Oxfordshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | SU 357 847[1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 71.4 hectares (176 acres)[1] |
Notification | 1986[1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Letcombe Bassett in Oxfordshire.[1][2]
Site features
The site is composed of three separate sloping areas of unimproved chalk downland, representing a type of habitat now uncommon in the Berkshire Downs.[3] It was formerly notified as Hackpen Hill and Crowhole Bottom. Eleven species of butterfly have been recorded, including chalkhill blue, brown argus and marbled white.[4] The site has extensive views over rolling countryside.
Gramp's Hill Down is the most easterly area, and the closest to Letcombe Bassett. The main grass is upright brome, and it has a rich variety of herbs, including yellow rattle, chalk milkwort and kidney vetch.[4]
The eastern half of the central area, Warren Down, is also dominated by upright brome, with herbs including bulbous buttercup and salad burnet. The main grass in the western half is meadow grass, with bare patches and rabbit damaged areas which have been colonised by plants of disturbed ground such as henbane.[4]
At the western end is Hackpen Down, the largest part of the site, which has a wide variety of aspects and gradients. The main grass is red fescue, and herbs include horseshoe vetch and common rockrose. A narrow strip to the east contains hawthorns and elder scrub.[4]
Hackpen Hill bowl barrow
Hackpen Hill Bowl Barrow is a Bronze Age barrow a few metres north of Hackpen Down. It is approximately 21 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres high, surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was taken to construct it, but which is now largely infilled. There is a depression at the top probably caused by an excavation by antiquarians, although no record of this survives. It is a Scheduled monument, and its grid reference is SU 3510 8518.[5]
Access
There is access to Gramp's Hill Down by a footpath called Apple Pie from Holborn Hill in Letcombe Bassett. The site is just north of The Ridgeway long-distance footpath, and there is access to it from Hackpen Down.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Map of Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ It is in an area which was formerly in Berkshire, and is part of the area of chalk hills still known as the Berkshire Downs.
- ^ a b c d "Natural England Citation, Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ Historic England. "Hackpen Hill bowl barrow 525m south of Sincombe Farm (1018718)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
51°33′30″N 1°29′22″W / 51.55827°N 1.48932°W / 51.55827; -1.48932
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- Alvescot Meadows
- Appleton Lower Common
- Ardley Cutting and Quarry
- Arncott Bridge Meadows
- Ashdown Park
- Aston Rowant
- Aston Rowant Woods
- Aston Upthorpe Downs
- Barrow Farm Fen
- Bear, Oveys and Great Bottom Woods
- Berins Hill Bank
- Berrick Trench
- Bestmoor
- Bix Bottom
- Blenheim Park
- Bould Wood
- Brasenose Wood and Shotover Hill
- Buckland Warren
- Cassington Meadows
- Chimney Meadows
- Chinnor Hill
- Cothill Fen
- Culham Brake
- Dry Sandford Pit
- Ducklington Mead
- Fernham Meadows
- Frilford Heath, Ponds and Fens
- Glyme Valley
- Grafton Lock Meadow
- Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs
- Harpsden Wood
- Hartslock
- Holly Court Bank
- Holly Wood
- Holton Wood
- Hook Meadow and The Trap Grounds
- Hook Norton Cutting and Banks
- Hurst Hill
- Iffley Meadows
- Knightsbridge Lane
- Lambridge Wood
- Langley's Lane Meadow
- Little Tew Meadows
- Little Wittenham
- Lye Valley
- Middle Barton Fen
- Moulsford Downs
- Murcott Meadows
- New Marston Meadows
- Otmoor
- Out Wood
- Pishill Woods
- Pixey and Yarnton Meads
- Port Meadow with Wolvercote Common and Green
- Reed Hill
- Rushy Meadows
- Salt Way, Ditchley
- Sarsgrove Wood
- Sheep's Banks
- Shirburn Hill
- Sidling's Copse and College Pond
- Spartum Fen
- Stanton Great Wood
- Stonesfield Common, Bottoms and Banks
- Sturt Copse
- Swyncombe Downs
- Tuckmill Meadows
- Warren Bank
- Waterperry Wood
- Watlington and Pyrton Hills
- Wendlebury Meads and Mansmoor Closes
- Weston Fen
- Westwell Gorse
- Whitecross Green and Oriel Woods
- Whitehill Wood
- Whitehorse Hill
- Wolvercote Meadows
- Woodeaton Wood
- Wormsley Chalk Banks
- Worsham Lane
- Wychwood
- Wytham Ditches and Flushes
- Wytham Woods
- Ardley Cutting and Quarry
- Ardley Trackways
- Aston Rowant Cutting
- Chinnor Chalk Pit
- Cothill Fen
- Cumnor
- Ditchley Road Quarry
- Dry Sandford Pit
- Highlands Farm Pit
- Hook Norton Cutting and Banks
- Horsehay Quarries
- Hurst Hill
- Kirtlington Quarry
- Lamb and Flag Quarry
- Littlemore Railway Cutting
- Littleworth Brick Pit
- Long Hanborough Gravel Pit
- Lyehill Quarry
- Magdalen Grove
- Magdalen Quarry
- Neithrop Fields Cutting
- Priest's Hill
- Rock Edge
- Sharp's Hill Quarry
- Shellingford Crossroads Quarry
- Shipton-on-Cherwell and Whitehill Farm Quarries
- Stanton Harcourt
- Stonesfield Slate Mines
- Stratton Audley Quarries
- Sugworth
- Taynton Quarries
- Whitehorse Hill
- Wicklesham and Coxwell Pits
- Woodeaton Quarry