List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Buckinghamshire facts for kids
Buckinghamshire is a county in south-east England, surrounded by Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Berkshire, Greater London, and Oxfordshire. It has two main local government areas: Buckinghamshire Council and Milton Keynes Council.
Temple Island Meadows with the River Thames nearby. This is one of Buckinghamshire's special natural places.
In England, there are special places called Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These are areas that are legally protected because they are very important for their wildlife, plants, or unique geology (rocks and landforms). Natural England, a government group, is in charge of finding and protecting these sites.
As of April 2016, Buckinghamshire has 65 SSSIs. Most of these (55) are important for their amazing wildlife and plants, while 10 are special because of their geology. Many of these sites are also part of other important natural areas, like the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) or National Nature Reserves. Some are even managed by local wildlife charities like the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
What are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)?
SSSIs are like nature's VIP areas! They are chosen because they have some of the best examples of England's natural heritage. This could be rare plants, special animals, or unique rock formations that tell us about Earth's history. Protecting these places helps make sure these important parts of nature are safe for the future.
Understanding the List of Special Places
Below is a list of some of the SSSIs in Buckinghamshire. To help you understand what makes each place special, here's a quick guide:
- Interest
- B = This site is important for its plants and animals (biological interest).
- G = This site is important for its rocks, fossils, or landforms (geological interest).
- Public Access
- FP = You can only walk on a public path that goes through the site.
- No = There is no public access to this site.
- PP = You can visit some parts of the site.
- Yes = The site is open for public access.
- Other Classifications
- BBOWT = This site is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, a local charity that protects wildlife.
- CAONB = This site is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a beautiful protected landscape.
- FC = This site is managed by the Forestry Commission, which looks after forests and woodlands.
- GCR = Geological Conservation Review site, meaning it's very important for geology.
- HMWT = This site is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
- LNR = This is a Local nature reserve, managed by local councils for nature and people.
- NNR = This is a National Nature Reserve, one of the best places for wildlife in the country.
- NT = This site is looked after by the National Trust, a charity that protects historic places and natural spaces.
- SAC = This is a Special Area of Conservation, a European site protected for its habitats and species.
- SM = This is a Scheduled monument, an important historic site.
- WT = This site is managed by the Woodland Trust, a charity that protects woodlands.
| Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Site Name | Photograph | B | G | Area | Public access |
Location | Other classifications |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashridge Commons and Woods |  |
640.1 hectares (1,582 acres) | YES | Ashridge 51°48′42″N 0°35′14″W / 51.8116°N 0.5871°W SP975135 |
CAONB NT |
This site has lots of woodlands, grasslands, and scrub. Many birds live and breed here, including some rare ones like firecrests. | ||
| Aston Clinton Ragpits | |
2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) | YES | Aston Clinton 51°47′20″N 0°42′50″W / 51.7888°N 0.7140°W SP888108 |
BBOWT CAONB |
This grassland site has old pits and spoil heaps. It's home to many shrubs, herbs, and insects, including twenty-seven different types of butterflies. There are also mature woodlands with beech, yew, and ash trees. | ||
| Aston Rowant | |
128.5 hectares (318 acres) | YES | Aston Rowant 51°40′08″N 0°56′55″W / 51.6689°N 0.9487°W SU728972 |
CAONB NCR NNR SAC |
This site features beech woodland, scrub, and chalk grassland. You can find unusual plants like wood barley and rare orchids. It's also home to uncommon beetles, moths, and fifty different bird species. | ||
| Aston Rowant Woods | |
209.7 hectares (518 acres) | YES | Aston Rowant 51°40′46″N 0°55′00″W / 51.6794°N 0.9167°W SU750984 |
CAONB NCR NNR SAC |
This large area of ancient woodland is very important for the Chilterns. It has 52 plant species that show it's an old wood, and over 100 types of fungi. | ||
| Bacombe and Coombe Hills | |
76.4 hectares (189 acres) | YES | Upper Bacombe 51°45′12″N 0°46′02″W / 51.7534°N 0.7671°W SP852068 |
BBOWT CAONB LNR NT |
This site has chalk grassland with many different species, including the rare fringed gentian. You can also find juniper and mixed scrub. Scarce insects like chalkhill blue and brown argus butterflies live here. | ||
| Bierton Clay Pit | |
0.1 hectares (0.25 acres) | NO | Bierton 51°50′01″N 0°47′02″W / 51.8336°N 0.7838°W SP839157 |
GCR | This old clay pit shows rocks from the late Jurassic period, about 157 to 145 million years ago. It's the only place where you can see the northern end of the Portland Beds and how they connect to the Hartwell Clay. | ||
| Black Park | |
15.3 hectares (38 acres) | YES | Wexham 51°32′51″N 0°32′26″W / 51.5476°N 0.5405°W TQ013842 |
LNR | This site has rare heathland and alder carr, along with mixed woodlands and grasslands. It's home to many animals and insects, including the nationally rare Roesel's bush cricket. You can also find 18 types of butterflies and birds like hobbies and nightjars. | ||
| Bolter End Sand Pit | |
0.3 hectares (0.74 acres) | NO | Bolter End 51°37′13″N 0°50′50″W / 51.6203°N 0.8473°W SU799919 |
GCR | This site is part of the Reading Beds, which are about 53 million years old. It shows layers of rock formed by ancient rivers, with materials from even older Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic periods. | ||
| Bradenham Woods, Park Wood and The Coppice | |
129.1 hectares (319 acres) | YES | Bradenham 51°40′42″N 0°48′14″W / 51.6783°N 0.8039°W SU828984 |
CAONB NCR NT SAC SM |
This site is mostly beech woodland with many rare plants. Twenty-eight different types of butterflies have been seen here. There are also areas of chalk grassland. | ||
| Bugle Quarry | |
0.1 hectares (0.25 acres) | NO | Hartwell 51°48′07″N 0°51′05″W / 51.8019°N 0.8514°W SP793121 |
GCR | This site shows rocks from the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods, about 152 to 139 million years ago. Dinosaur teeth, including those of Pelorosaurus, have been found here. These are the only sauropod teeth from the Tithonian (late Jurassic) age found in Europe. | ||
| Burnham Beeches | |
374.6 hectares (926 acres) | PP | Farnham Common 51°33′44″N 0°37′51″W / 51.5622°N 0.6309°W SU950857 |
NNR SAC SM |
This site has many different habitats, including ancient oak and beech trees, wet heathland, bogs, and ponds. It's home to dormice, 56 bird species, and some very rare beetles. | ||
| Buttlers Hangings | |
3.9 hectares (9.6 acres) | YES | Bradenham 51°39′31″N 0°49′13″W / 51.6587°N 0.8203°W SU817962 |
CAONB | This site has steeply sloping grassland and scrub with a wide variety of plants. There are many rabbit burrows and a badger sett. You can also find chalkland butterflies and four endangered Red Book spiders here. | ||
| Dancersend | |
81.3 hectares (201 acres) | YES | Wendover 51°46′34″N 0°41′49″W / 51.7760°N 0.6969°W SP900094 |
BBOWT CAONB FC |
This nature reserve has woodland, chalk grassland, and scrub. Even though many trees were cut down in the 1940s, the ground still has many plants found in ancient woodlands, like hairy brome. | ||
| Dancersend Waterworks | |
4.0 hectares (9.9 acres) | NO | Hastoe 51°46′21″N 0°41′18″W / 51.7724°N 0.6883°W SP906090 |
CAONB LB |
This site has artificial banks and basins in a chalk valley. It's special because it has an unusually wide variety of herbs, grasses, and shrubs. There's a badger sett and many types of butterflies and birds. | ||
| Ellesborough and Kimble Warrens | |
68.9 hectares (170 acres) | YES | Ellesborough 51°44′41″N 0°47′52″W / 51.7447°N 0.7978°W SP831058 |
CAONB SM |
This is one of the most important sites in the Chilterns for natural box woodlands. It also has grasslands with rare plant species, many insects, and breeding birds. | ||
| Fayland Chalk Bank | |
0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) | NO | Parmoor 51°35′30″N 0°51′55″W / 51.5917°N 0.8653°W SU787887 |
CAONB | This chalk grassland has many different plants. You can find orchids like the common spotted and pyramidal orchids. Because of its many chalk flowers and sunny location, it's important for bees, grasshoppers, and butterflies. | ||
| Fern House Gravel Pit | |
1.3 hectares (3.2 acres) | NO | Bourne End 51°35′18″N 0°43′36″W / 51.5884°N 0.7268°W SU883885 |
GCR | This site helps scientists understand the history of the River Thames. It shows how the river changed course during the Anglian stage ice age, about 450,000 years ago. Fossils of straight-tusked elephants and mammoths have been found here. | ||
| Finemere Wood | |
45.7 hectares (113 acres) | YES | Quainton 51°53′24″N 0°57′29″W / 51.8901°N 0.9581°W SP718218 |
BBOWT | Most of this site is ancient pedunculate oak forest. It's home to butterflies like the rare wood white and black hairstreak. There's also grassland and scrub crossed by the River Ray. | ||
| Foxcote Reservoir and Wood | |
48.3 hectares (119 acres) | Akeley 52°01′17″N 0°57′55″W / 52.0215°N 0.9653°W SP711364 |
BBOWT | The reservoir is important for wildfowl in winter, especially shoveler ducks and Bewick's swans. Around the reservoir, you'll find woodland, meadows, and ponds. Rare plants like the greater butterfly orchid also grow here. | |||
| Frieth Meadows | |
2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) | NO | Frieth 51°36′28″N 0°50′51″W / 51.6077°N 0.8476°W SU799905 |
This site has meadows that are managed in a traditional way, without artificial fertilisers. You can find plants like quaking grass, green-winged orchid, and devil's bit scabious. The grasslands and hedges are home to many different insects. | |||
| Froghall Brickworks | |
0.7 hectares (1.7 acres) | NO | Chalfont St Giles 51°38′14″N 0°35′23″W / 51.6372°N 0.5896°W SU977941 |
This site has Pleistocene gravel on top of Reading beds. The gravel was left by the ancient River Thames before it was moved south by the Anglian Ice Age about 450,000 years ago. | |||
| Frogmore Meadows | |
4.6 hectares (11 acres) | YES | Chenies 51°40′47″N 0°31′29″W / 51.6796°N 0.5247°W TQ021989 |
CAONB | This site has marshy areas and fens next to the river, along with damp and drier grasslands. Water voles live on the river bank. Damp areas have plants like meadow foxtail and marsh marigold. | ||
| Gomm Valley | |
4.1 hectares (10 acres) | YES | Micklefield 51°37′17″N 0°42′21″W / 51.6215°N 0.7057°W SU897922 |
BBOWT CAONB |
This chalk grassland is turning into scrub. It has many different herbs and insects. It's also known for its reptiles and birds that stay for the winter, especially thrushes. Over 30 types of butterflies and 180 types of moths have been recorded here. | ||
| Grangelands and Pulpit Hill | |
25.5 hectares (63 acres) | YES | Cadsden 51°44′15″N 0°48′03″W / 51.7376°N 0.8009°W SP829050 |
BBOWT CAONB NT |
This site has grassland and scrub, which are home to interesting birds and insects like glow-worms and marbled white and chalk hill blue butterflies. There are also mature beech woodlands. | ||
| Grendon and Doddershall Woods | |
67.1 hectares (166 acres) | YES | Grendon Underwood 51°52′53″N 0°59′09″W / 51.8814°N 0.9859°W SP699208 |
This site is broadleaved oak woodland on clay soil. You can find herbs like primrose and wood anemone. The woods have 35 butterfly species, including the rare black hairstreak. | |||
| Ham Home-cum-Hamgreen Woods | |
23.2 hectares (57 acres) | YES | Grendon Underwood 51°51′55″N 0°59′32″W / 51.8653°N 0.9921°W SP695190 |
This site is ancient woodland on clay, with many different plants and insects. It has the largest breeding group of the nationally rare black hairstreak butterfly in Britain. | |||
| Hodgemoor Wood | |
102.6 hectares (254 acres) | YES | Chalfont St Giles 51°37′55″N 0°36′10″W / 51.6320°N 0.6028°W SU968935 |
CAONB FC |
This large area of woodland has many different trees and shrubs, including ancient oak, beech, and hornbeam. Butterflies like white admirals live here, and the nationally rare jewel beetle has been seen. | ||
| Hollowhill and Pullingshill Woods | |
23.0 hectares (57 acres) | YES | Marlow 51°34′07″N 0°48′55″W / 51.5687°N 0.8154°W SU822862 |
BBOWT CAONB WT |
A large part of this site is mature beech woodland. You can find some unusual plants here, including the nationally rare ghost orchid. There is also heather in more open areas. | ||
| Homefield Wood | |
6.1 hectares (15 acres) | YES | Hambleden 51°34′24″N 0°49′42″W / 51.5733°N 0.8283°W SU813867 |
BBOWT CAONB FC |
This site has young beech trees, conifers, and many native trees. There are open areas with chalk grassland rich in herbs and various orchids. Many insects live here, including thirty types of butterflies and over four hundred types of moths. | ||
| Howe Park Wood | |
21.4 hectares (53 acres) | YES | Tattenhoe 52°00′06″N 0°47′17″W / 52.0018°N 0.7880°W SP833344 |
MKPT | This is an ancient woodland on clay soil, which can get very wet. It has a wide variety of trees and shrubs. Almost three hundred types of moths have been recorded here, and butterflies include the nationally rare black hairstreak. | ||
| Ivinghoe Hills | |
212.3 hectares (525 acres) | YES | Ivinghoe 51°50′00″N 0°36′14″W / 51.8334°N 0.6038°W SP963159 |
CAONB NCR NT SM |
This site is rich in wildlife and has different habitats, including chalk grassland with some nationally rare species, woodlands, and scrub. There are also two areas of ancient woodland. | ||
| Kingcup Meadows and Oldhouse Wood | |
13.2 hectares (33 acres) | YES | Denham 51°33′19″N 0°30′57″W / 51.5554°N 0.5157°W TQ030851 |
This site has a mix of different habitats next to the River Alder Bourne, including old pastures and woodland. The meadows have both dry and wet grasslands, swamps, and fens. Oldhouse Wood has ash and oak trees. | |||
| Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths | |
212.8 hectares (526 acres) | YES | Great Brickhill 51°57′23″N 0°39′19″W / 51.9563°N 0.6553°W [1] |
NCR NNR WTBCN |
This site has the largest remaining woodland area in Bedfordshire, along with lowland heath, acidic grassland, and small ponds. It's home to several rare plants like great woodrush and wood vetch. There are also many birds and insects, including white admiral butterflies and tree pipits. | ||
| Littleworth Common | |
15.8 hectares (39 acres) | YES | Farnham Common 51°34′01″N 0°39′09″W / 51.5669°N 0.6524°W SU935862 |
This site used to be open heathland, but most of it has grown into birch and oak woodland. Some parts of the acid heathland still remain. Marshy areas and two large ponds have unusual plant communities, including the nationally rare starfruit. | |||
| Lodge Hill | |
31.8 hectares (79 acres) | YES | Bledlow Ridge 51°41′38″N 0°51′09″W / 51.6940°N 0.8526°W SP794001 |
CAONB SM |
This site has chalk grassland and scrub, which are important for insects, including butterflies. It's home to a rare snail, Abide secale, and groups of badgers and slowworms. There's also a Bronze Age burial mound called a Bowl barrow. | ||
| Long Herdon Meadow | |
4.5 hectares (11 acres) | YES | Marsh Gibbon 51°52′36″N 1°03′36″W / 51.8766°N 1.0601°W SP648202 |
BBOWT | This site is a meadow next to the River Ray in the Vale of Aylesbury. It has clay soil and often floods. Because it's managed traditionally (hay cut and cattle grazing, without artificial fertilisers), it has a diverse grassland that is now rare in England. | ||
| Mid Colne Valley | |
132.0 hectares (326 acres) | YES | Denham 51°35′44″N 0°29′44″W / 51.5956°N 0.4956°W TQ043896 |
This valley is home to over 70 types of woodland and wetland birds that breed here, and 80 types of wildfowl that spend the winter. It also has one of the few remaining areas of chalk grassland in Greater London, and woodlands with oak and ash trees. | |||
| Millfield Wood | |
9.5 hectares (23 acres) | YES | High Wycombe 51°39′03″N 0°44′38″W / 51.6507°N 0.7439°W SU870954 |
BBOWT CAONB |
This is a special beech woodland on chalk, which is an unusual habitat. It also has many wych elm trees. The ground has many wild flowers, which is rare in beech woodlands, and some ancient and nationally restricted plant species. | ||
| Moorend Common | |
28.0 hectares (69 acres) | YES | Lane End 51°36′27″N 0°50′36″W / 51.6076°N 0.8433°W SU802905 |
CAONB | This site is on London Clay, which is unusual for the Chilterns. The soil is acidic and sometimes waterlogged. It has grasslands, heath, woodland, marsh, and scrub. Marshy areas have heath spotted orchid and bog mosses. | ||
| Muswell Hill | |
0.3 hectares (0.74 acres) | YES | Brill 51°49′58″N 1°04′21″W / 51.8327°N 1.0726°W SP640153 |
GCR | This site has sandstones and sandy ironstones. Scientists are still trying to figure out their exact age and how they were formed, but they are thought to be from the early Cretaceous period, with older Jurassic layers underneath. | ||
| Naphill Common | |
71.7 hectares (177 acres) | YES | Naphill 51°40′02″N 0°47′12″W / 51.6673°N 0.7868°W SU840972 |
CAONB NCR | This oak and beech wood has many different trees and shrubs, areas of acid heath, wet paths, and ponds. Many of the oak and beech trees are ancient. Heathland clearings have some plants that are uncommon in the county, like heath bedstraw and heather. | ||
| Old Rectory Meadows | |
7.9 hectares (20 acres) | NO | Denham 51°34′34″N 0°30′39″W / 51.5760°N 0.5107°W TQ033874 |
This site is on the bank of the River Misbourne and has wet meadows, marsh, and alder woodland. It has plants that are rare in the county, like marsh arrowgrass. Its varied structure provides a good home for insects. | |||
| Oxley Mead | |
3.7 hectares (9.1 acres) | YES | Milton Keynes 52°00′20″N 0°48′30″W / 52.0056°N 0.8083°W SP819348 |
MKPT | This is an ancient hay meadow with a nationally rare plant community, thanks to its traditional management. The main plants are herbs like great burnet and meadow sweet, and grasses like meadow foxtail. | ||
| Pilch Fields | |
11.1 hectares (27 acres) | YES | Great Horwood 51°59′00″N 0°54′49″W / 51.9832°N 0.9137°W SP747322 |
BBOWT | This site has two fields, Big Pilch and Little Pilch. Big Pilch has wetlands, fens, scrub, a stream, and old ridge-and-furrow grassland. The stream continues into Little Pilch, which has spring-fed fen and grassland. Over two hundred flowering plants have been recorded here. | ||
| Pitstone Hill | |
22.9 hectares (57 acres) | YES | Ivinghoe 51°49′16″N 0°37′23″W / 51.8211°N 0.6231°W SP950145 |
CAONB | This site has chalk grassland on a steep hill, with small areas of woodland and scrub. Flowers include the nationally scarce pasque flower. Twenty-six types of butterflies have been seen here, and breeding birds include skylarks and meadow pipits. | ||
| Pitstone Quarry | |
10.3 hectares (25 acres) | PP | Ivinghoe 51°49′13″N 0°38′52″W / 51.8204°N 0.6478°W SP933144 |
This site shows rocks from the Middle and Late Pleistocene periods, from the last half-million years. Most of the sediments are from ice ages, but those from the latest warm period, about 125,000 years ago, contain hippopotamus fossils. | |||
| Poker's Pond Meadow | |
1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) | NO | Soulbury 51°56′37″N 0°43′21″W / 51.9436°N 0.7226°W SP879280 |
This is an ancient hay meadow that has been managed traditionally. It still has the remains of medieval ridge and furrow ploughing. There's a marshy area, but most of the field is dry grassland with an unusually wide variety of plants. Over 100 types of grasses, sedges, herbs, and rushes have been recorded here. | |||
| Rodbed Wood | |
2.2 hectares (5.4 acres) | FP | Medmenham 51°32′44″N 0°50′31″W / 51.5456°N 0.8420°W SU804836 |
CAONB | This site is a wet willow and alder woodland close to the River Thames. It has a diverse range of plants, including the nationally rare summer snowflake. Many different insects also live here. | ||
| Rushbeds Wood and Railway Cutting | |
80.2 hectares (198 acres) | PP | Wotton Underwood 51°50′03″N 1°02′00″W / 51.8341°N 1.0334°W SP667155 |
BBOWT | This site is an ancient woodland on heavy clay soils that are often waterlogged. It has an "exceptional" number of insects, including over thirty butterfly species like the nationally rare black hairstreak and the scarce wood white and purple emperor. | ||
| Shabbington Woods Complex | |
305.6 hectares (755 acres) | YES | Long Crendon 51°47′39″N 1°06′35″W / 51.7943°N 1.1097°W SP615110 |
BBOWT FC |
This site is the largest remaining part of the old Royal Forest of Bernwood. It has a small area of ancient woodland, two old meadows, and several ponds. It's especially important for its many insects, with over forty butterfly species recorded, including the rare Duke of Burgundy. | ||
| Sheephouse Wood | |
56.9 hectares (141 acres) | PP | Charndon 51°54′20″N 0°58′46″W / 51.9056°N 0.9795°W SP703235 |
This site has ancient pedunculate oak woodland with many small streams and a diverse ground flora. It's home to typical breeding birds and some uncommon insects, including the rare black hairstreak butterfly. | |||
| South Lodge Pit | |
0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) | NO | Taplow 51°31′44″N 0°41′46″W / 51.5290°N 0.6962°W SU905819 |
GCR | This former chalk quarry dates back to the late Cretaceous period, about 83 million years ago, when sea levels were much higher. You can find marine fossils here, including ancient worms, oysters, and bivalves. It's the only example in Britain of a chalk phosphorite deposit. | ||
| Stoke Common | |
83.2 hectares (206 acres) | YES | Stoke Poges 51°33′29″N 0°34′50″W / 51.5580°N 0.5806°W SU985853 |
This site is the last remaining part of a large heathland. It sits on glacial gravel over London clay, and some parts are always waterlogged. It has many different insects, especially moths. The dusky cockroach and rare bog bush cricket have also been found here. | |||
| Stone | |
0.1 hectares (0.25 acres) | NO | Stone 51°48′24″N 0°52′23″W / 51.8066°N 0.8730°W SP778126 |
GCR | This site has sands from the Lower Cretaceous Wealden deposits, but their exact age is unknown. The sand came from the north and includes Carboniferous chert. This site is important for understanding the ancient geography of the Wealden area. | ||
| Swain's Wood | |
16.2 hectares (40 acres) | NO | Turville 51°37′19″N 0°56′02″W / 51.6220°N 0.9339°W SU739920 |
BBOWT CAONB CAONB |
This site is on the upper slopes of a valley, with grassland and scrub, surrounded by woodland. The grassland has many different plants and insects. Around 117 types of spiders and over 160 types of butterflies and moths have been recorded here. | ||
| Temple Island Meadows | |
14.1 hectares (35 acres) | YES | Henley-on-Thames 51°33′22″N 0°53′32″W / 51.5560°N 0.8922°W SU769847 |
This site has several wet meadows that are grazed by sheep. They flood and get waterlogged in certain seasons, and have many different plants and animals. Plants include the nationally rare summer snowflake, and marsh and early marsh orchids. | |||
| Tingewick Meadows | |
11.1 hectares (27 acres) | YES | Tingewick 51°58′35″N 1°03′08″W / 51.9763°N 1.0522°W SP652313 |
The meadows have areas of ancient ridge and furrow (old plough lines), and marshy ditches fed by springs. The grassland has a rich variety of plant species, some of which are rare in the Vale of Aylesbury, like quaking grass and the dwarf thistle cirsium acaule. | |||
| Tring Reservoirs | |
106.5 hectares (263 acres) | YES | Tring 51°48′49″N 0°40′06″W / 51.8135°N 0.6683°W SP919136 |
HMWT | These four reservoirs are very important for birds, including large numbers of shovellers that spend the winter here, and many different birds that breed. They are also important for insects like dragonflies. | ||
| Turville Hill | |
22.4 hectares (55 acres) | YES | High Wycombe 51°36′55″N 0°53′27″W / 51.6153°N 0.8907°W SU769913 |
CAONB | This is a steeply sloping chalk grassland that is grazed and has many different plants. Two butterflies, the silver spotted skipper and the Adonis blue, are rare here. Another scarce insect is the orange clearwing moth. | ||
| Warren Farm, Stewkley | |
1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) | NO | Stewkley 51°54′35″N 0°45′51″W / 51.9098°N 0.7643°W SP851242 |
GCR | This site is the most northern place where you can see the Jurassic Portlandian basin. It's very important for understanding the ancient geography and rock layers of the late Jurassic period. | ||
| Weston Turville Reservoir | |
18.4 hectares (45 acres) | YES | Weston Turville 51°46′42″N 0°45′07″W / 51.7784°N 0.7519°W SP862096 |
BBOWT CAONB |
The open water here is important for 46 types of waterfowl that spend the winter, and it's nationally important for shovelers. Around the reservoir, there are tall fens, reed beds, and willow areas, which are habitats that are becoming rare in Britain. Over 300 types of beetles live here, including six that are rare nationally. | ||
| Widdenton Park Wood | |
23.5 hectares (58 acres) | YES | High Wycombe 51°36′59″N 0°49′17″W / 51.6164°N 0.8214°W SU817915 |
CAONB | This is an ancient oak-beech woodland with many different plants, including some uncommon species. The most important feature is a number of large, spring-fed mires (wetlands) dominated by willow and birch trees. | ||
| Windsor Hill | |
61.8 hectares (153 acres) | PP | Princes Risborough 51°37′38″N 0°55′20″W / 51.6273°N 0.9222°W SU747926 |
BBOWT CAONB NCR |
This site has beech woodland, scrub, and chalk grassland. The scrub has an ancient hedge and a group of juniper plants. 23 types of butterflies have been recorded here, including brown hairstreaks. | ||
| Wormsley Chalk Banks | |
14.1 hectares (35 acres) | PP | Turville 51°38′14″N 0°55′30″W / 51.6372°N 0.9249°W SU745937 |
CAONB | This site has chalk grassland rich in plants and insects that have become rare across the country. Flowers include bee and fly orchids, with the latter becoming scarce. Insects include various butterflies, harvest spiders, and slowworms. | ||
| Yardley Chase | |
353.1 hectares (873 acres) | PP | Olney 52°10′33″N 0°45′14″W / 52.1759°N 0.7540°W SP853538 |
This area has many different natural habitats. Its value for insects has increased because of its military use, which meant it wasn't farmed intensely for a long time. It has woodland and old grasslands, and 30 types of breeding butterflies have been recorded here. |
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See also
Black History Month on Kiddle
Famous African-American Scientists:
 | William M. Jackson |
 | Juan E. Gilbert |
 | Neil deGrasse Tyson |
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List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Buckinghamshire Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.