List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire facts for kids

In England, special places called Sites of Special Scientific Interest (often shortened to SSSIs) are chosen by an organization called Natural England. Their job is to look after England's amazing nature. When a place becomes an SSSI, it gets special legal protection because it's super important for its wildlife or its unique rocks and landforms.

As of April 2020, there are 118 SSSIs in Hampshire. Most of them (107) are important for their plants and animals. Five are special for their geology (rocks and landforms), and six are important for both!

What do the symbols mean?

Here's a quick guide to some of the symbols you'll see:

Interest

• B = This place is important for its plants and animals (biological interest).
• G = This place is important for its rocks, soil, or landforms (geological interest).

Public access

• FP = You can walk on footpaths that go through the site.
• No = There is no public access to this site.
• PP = You can visit some parts of the site.
• Yes = You can visit most or all of the site.

Other special names

Some SSSIs have other special names because they are also protected in different ways:

• GCR = A place important for studying geology.
• HIWWT = Looked after by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
• LNR = A Local nature reserve, often managed by local councils.
• NCR = A very important nature conservation site.
• NNR = A National nature reserve, one of the best places for nature in the UK.
• NT = Looked after by the National Trust.
• Ramsar = An internationally important wetland (a wet, marshy area).
• SAC = A Special Area of Conservation, important for certain habitats or species in Europe.
• SM = A Scheduled monument, an important historical site.
• SPA = A Special Protection Area, important for birds in Europe.

Amazing SSSIs in Hampshire

Site name	Biological (B)	Geological (G)	Area (hectares)	Access	Location	Other special names	What makes it special
Alresford Pond		Y		30.2	FP	Alresford		This large lake was made by a bishop way back in the 1100s to help boats travel on the River Itchen. It's home to many water plants and lots of breeding wetland birds, like reed warblers.
Ashford Hill Woods and Meadows		Y		141.2	PP	Ashford Hill	NNR	This valley has different types of woodlands and natural meadows. It's a fantastic place for insects, with 31 types of butterflies and over 400 kinds of moths, including the rare orange moth.
Avon Valley (Bickton to Christchurch)		Y		1,403.8	PP	Ringwood	HIWWT, NCR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This valley has more different habitats and wildlife than any other chalk valley in the country. Many birds, like Bewick’s swans, come here to breed or spend the winter. You can also find rare plants and fish here, plus dragonflies like the rare scarce chaser.
Baddesley Common		Y		39.0	PP	Romsey	HIWWT, SAC	Most of this site is a wet, marshy area called a valley bog, along with damp grasslands, heath, and woods. It's full of different plants and animals, including many moths. Look for plants like reed and bog bean.
Basingstoke Canal		Y		101.3	PP	Farnborough	NCR	This canal has the most plant life of any water area in England! You can find rare plants like hairlike pondweed. It's also super important for insects, with 24 types of dragonflies and other rare insects.
Beacon Hill, Warnford		Y		46.4	YES	Winchester	NCR, NNR, SM	This chalk grassland is kept healthy by rabbits grazing. It has many different wildflowers, like horseshoe vetch and yellow-wort. Twenty-five types of butterflies breed here, including the rare silver-spotted skipper.
Bentley Station Meadow		Y		5.2	FP	Farnham		This meadow is full of different herbs and grasses. It has a very rich insect life, especially hoverflies and butterflies. You can find 22 types of breeding butterflies here.
Bere Mill Meadows		Y		10.3	FP	Whitchurch		These damp meadows are in the flood plain of the River Test. They have many wet grassland plants, like bogbean and southern marsh orchid.
Binswood		Y		62.5	YES	Alton		This is a small part of the old Royal Forest of Woolmer. It has natural grasslands with scattered trees and thick woodlands, some trees being 200 years old! It's still managed for grazing, which is a rare habitat now.
Blackwater Valley		Y		33.9	PP	Sandhurst		The River Blackwater flows through this site, which also has wet woods, swamps, and meadows. The meadows have plants found in very old grasslands, which is a rare habitat.
Botley Wood and Everett's and Mushes Copses		Y		352.7	PP	Winchester		Botley Wood is amazing for butterflies, with over 30 types breeding here, including the beautiful purple emperor. The other woods have many flowering plants typical of very old woodlands.
Boulsbury Wood		Y		119.8	FP	Damerham		This site includes several woods with different habitats and plants. Boulsbury Wood is the richest in species in the whole county! Some parts are ancient woodlands, recorded since the 1200s.
Bourley and Long Valley		Y		823.5	PP	Fleet	SPA	This site has many different habitats: heath, woodland, scrub, and grassland. The heathland is important for three special birds: woodlarks, nightjars, and Dartford warblers. It also has a rich insect life, including rare wasps and dragonflies.
Bramshill		Y		673.3	FP	Hook	SPA	This site has a conifer forest with important numbers of woodlarks, nightjars, and Dartford warblers. There are also pools and wet areas with lots of dragonflies and damselflies, plus a natural meadow with a rare flowering plant called small fleabane.
Bramshott and Ludshott Commons		Y		374.4	PP	Liphook	SPA	This site has large areas of heath covered in heather and common gorse. There are also woodlands with very old trees, which are home to many types of lichens, some of which are rare.
Bransbury Common		Y		158.6	PP	Wherwell	NCR	This site has two main habitats. The common has peat soil with plants like purple moor-grass. There's also an old water meadow with wildflowers such as lady's smock and marsh marigold.
Breamore Marsh		Y		14.8		Breamore		This site is a marshy area.
Brickworth Down and Dean Hill		Y		120.4		Salisbury		This site includes chalk grasslands and woodlands.
Brockley Warren		Y		13.0		Chilbolton		This site is a woodland area.
Broughton Down		Y		45.8	PP	Nether Wallop	HIWWT	This sloping chalk site has grasslands grazed by rabbits and many anthills. It's home to insects like silver-spotted skipper butterflies.
Browndown		Y		66.5	YES	Gosport		This shingle beach has areas of heather, grass, and gorse. It's home to many special insects, including rare flies and bugs.
Broxhead and Kingsley Commons		Y		105.1	YES	Whitehill	LNR, SPA	These commons have heath, grassland, woodland, and scrub. They are one of the most important places in southern Britain for lichens (tiny plant-like growths). They also have three protected birds and the nationally rare sand lizard.
Burghclere Beacon		Y		80.7	YES	Burghclere	NCR, SM	An Iron Age hillfort sits at the top of this chalk grassland. It has a rich variety of herbs, including lady's bedstraw and horseshoe vetch.
Burton Common		Y		39.1	YES	Christchurch		This dry heath has old heather and many mosses and lichens. It's home to sand lizards and smooth snakes, which love this type of habitat.
Butser Hill		Y	Y	239.7	YES	Waterlooville	GCR, LNR, NNR, SAC, SM	This chalk hill is part of Queen Elizabeth Country Park. It has thick yew woods, mixed scrub, and grasslands grazed by sheep and rabbits. It's rich in plants, especially mosses.
Butter Wood		Y		133.0	PP	Basingstoke	LNR	This site is mostly deciduous woodland with different types of rocks and structures. Many parts used to be "wood pasture" (where animals grazed among trees). It's great for butterflies, with 25 different species.
Castle Bottom to Yateley and Hawley Commons		Y		922.7	PP	Camberley	NNR, SPA	This heathland and conifer forest is super important for Dartford warblers, woodlarks, and nightjars. It also has an amazing collection of dragonflies and damselflies, with 19 out of 37 British species found here!
Catherington Down		Y		12.8	YES	Waterlooville	LNR	This sloping chalk grassland has old "lynchet" strips from the Middle Ages. Grazing helps keep it healthy, and it has many chalk wildflowers like pyramidal orchid and round-headed rampion.
Cheesefoot Head		Y		13.4	YES	Winchester		This SSSI is a steep chalk grassland, where cattle and rabbits graze. It has many types of downland grasses and wildflowers like dwarf thistle.
Chichester Harbour		Y		3,733.5	PP	Chichester	GCR, LNR, NCR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This harbour has many different habitats: mudflats, shingle, saltmarsh, sand dunes, and woods. The mudflats are a feeding ground for huge numbers of international birds like ringed plovers and dunlins. It's also important for its sand dunes and shingle beaches.
Chilbolton Common		Y		35.5	PP	Stockbridge		This site includes a part of the River Test and its flood plain. It has marshy meadows, wet areas, and chalk downland. Over 265 types of flowering plants have been found here, including rare ferns and orchids.
Coombe Wood and The Lythe		Y		44.0	PP	Alton	NT, SAC	This site has woods with many mosses and lime-loving plants like green hellebore. There are also meadows by a stream and an oak and hazel wood.
Coulters Dean		Y		2.2	PP	Petersfield	HIWWT	This chalk grassland on a slope of the South Downs is rich in plants and insects. It has been studied since 1914! You can find horseshoe vetch, clustered bellflower, and at least eleven types of orchids here.
Crab Wood		Y		73.0	PP	Winchester	LNR	This wood has been here since at least the 1500s. It has hazel that has been cut back (coppiced) and large oak trees. It's home to many butterflies, including the amazing purple emperor.
Danebury Hill		Y ="center"|	13.7	YES	Stockbridge	LNR	This gently sloping site surrounds Danebury, an Iron Age hill fort. It has chalk grassland with many herbs, grazed by rabbits and sheep. Look for rare orchids like the burnt-tip orchid.
Dibden Bay		Y		229.4	YES	Southampton		Most of this site was formed from material dug up from Southampton Water. It's an SSSI because it has a huge collection of insects, including 21 nationally rare species! It's also important for nesting lapwings and wintering wildfowl like wigeon.
Downend Chalk Pit			Y	4.4		Fareham	GCR	This site is a chalk pit important for its geology.
Dunbridge Pit			Y	0.7		Romsey	GCR	This site is a pit important for its geology.
Duncroft Farm Pit			Y	0.1	NO	Newbury	GCR	This site shows rocks from the Late Cretaceous period, about 66 to 100 million years ago. These rocks are part of a steep fold in the ground, which is interesting for geologists.
East Aston Common		Y		18.2	PP	Andover		This site is in the flood plain of the River Test, which is one of Britain's best chalk streams. It has meadows with many different herbs and a wide, shallow part of the river. Many wetland birds, like grasshopper warblers, live here.
Ebblake Bog		Y		11.3	PP	Ringwood	Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This wet, marshy area (mire) has a deep layer of peat. It's different from other bogs because it hasn't been grazed by animals. It's covered in willow and Sphagnum mosses, with several shallow pools.
Eelmoor Marsh		Y		66.3	PP	Aldershot	SPA	This site has a bog with deep peat, grass heath, woodland, and ditches. The bog alone has over 250 types of flowering plants and grasses, including insect-eating plants like common butterwort and common sundew. It also has many different insects.
Eling and Bury Marshes		Y		112.3	PP	Southampton	Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This site has two different saltmarshes separated by mudflats. One marsh is grazed, while the other is left wild, leading to different plant life. It's part of Southampton Water, which is very important for its many wading birds.
Fleet Pond		Y		48.3	YES	Fleet	LNR	This large, shallow lake is surrounded by reed beds, wet alder woods, and oak and birch woodlands. The lake has many water plants and animals, including lots of reed warblers and other wetland birds.
Fletchwood Meadows		Y	"	7.6		Southampton	HIWWT	This site is made up of meadows.
Foxlease and Ancells Meadows		Y		68.8	PP	Fleet	HIWWT	This site is mainly composed of species-rich meadows, which are damp and acidic. There are also many ponds and ditches with a diverse flora, including water violet and the nationally declining marsh stitchwort. Over 240 species of plants have been recorded, including 17 sedges.
Galley Down Wood		Y		16.6	FP	Winchester		This wood, planted with beech trees around 1930, has a well-developed beech forest floor. You can find flowering plants like bird's-nest orchid and the nationally rare long-leaved helleborine.
Gilkicker Lagoon		Y		4.1		Gosport	Ramsar, SAC	This site is a lagoon.
Greywell Fen		Y		38.0	PP	Hook	HIWWT, NCR	This 2 km long site is a wet, marshy area with lime-rich soil. It has a large area of wet grassland, grazed by cattle, and a small area of wet woodland. Meadow plants include cowslip and pepper-saxifrage.
Greywell Tunnel		Y		0.4	NO	Hook		This tunnel in the Basingstoke Canal has a steady temperature, making it perfect for bats. It has the largest known bat population in Britain, with about 2,000 bats! At least five different bat species live here, including Natterer's and Daubenton’s.
Hazeley Heath		Y		180.8	YES	Hook	SPA	This large heath has a variety of habitats due to different soil types and land use. These include areas of acid grassland, bracken, wet and dry heath, thick gorse, birch woods, and bog.
Heath Brow			Y	1.9		Farnham	GCR	This site is important for its geological features.
Highclere Park		Y		69.6	YES	Newbury	RHPG	This is the earliest documented estate in the county, recorded in 749! It was landscaped by Capability Brown in the 1770s. The old trees have many lichens and mosses, typical of ancient woodlands. It also has two lakes and is known for its rich insect populations.
Highcliffe to Milford Cliffs			Y	110.1	YES	New Milton	GCR	This site stretches for 9 km along the cliffs of Christchurch Bay. It shows fossil-rich rock layers from about 40 million years ago, and many species of ancient animals and plants were first discovered here. The cliffs also have gravels with very old stone tools from the Stone Age.
Hook Common and Bartley Heath		Y		129.4	YES	Hook	HIWWT	This site is of particular interest because of its extensive areas of wet heath, which rarely survives in the Thames Basin. There are also areas of dry heath and oak and birch woodland. It's home to many insects, including rare moths and hoverflies.
Hook Heath Meadows		Y		5.9		Portsmouth	HIWWT	This site consists of meadows.
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary		Y	Y	1,077.3	PP	Lymington	GCR, HIWWT, LNR, NCR, NNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This site has a diverse range of coastal habitats, including muds, lagoons, marshes, and shingle beaches. It's internationally important for birds that spend the winter here, and insects include eight nationally rare species. Geologically, it helps us understand how beaches are formed by waves.
Hythe to Calshot Marshes		Y		591.8	PP	Southampton	HIWWT, LNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	These saltmarshes and mudflats are home to huge numbers of wintering wading birds and wildfowl, like black-tailed godwits and dunlins. It's especially important for dark-bellied brent geese, as over 1% of the world's population can be found here!
Ladle Hill		Y		10.5	YES	Newbury	SM	This site, on the slopes of an Iron Age hill fort, is chalk grassland with many different plants. It's one of only about six places in Britain where you can find the rare burnt-tip orchid.
Langstone Harbour		Y		2,085.4	PP	Portsmouth	HIWWT, LNR, NCR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This is a tidal basin where large mudflats appear at low tide. It's internationally important for its huge numbers of wintering wildfowl and wading birds, and for the many small creatures living in the mud.
Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary		Y	Y	585.9	PP	Southampton	GCR, LNR, Ramsar, SAC, SM, SPA	This site mainly has mudflats, but also saltmarsh, shingle, reedbeds, and woodlands. It's amazing for rare coastal plants and internationally important for dark-bellied geese. It's also important for very old stone tools and fossils of ancient birds.
Lincegrove and Hackett's Marshes		Y		37.8	PP	Fareham	LNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This site is one of the best examples of saltmarshes on the south coast. It's covered in plants like sea purslane and common cordgrass, and other coastal flowers.
Lower Test Valley		Y		142.0	PL	Southampton	HIWWT, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This valley has large reed beds, flooded creeks, natural grassland, and scattered willow trees. Over 450 flowering plants have been found here, including the nationally rare green-flowered helleborine. The reed beds are home to many wetland birds.
Lye Heath Marsh		Y		4.4		Winchester		This site is a marshy area.
Lymington River		Y	Y	34.8	PP	Brockenhurst	GCR, NCR, Ramsar, SPA	This site covers the river and its smaller streams. It's unique because you can see so many different plant communities change quickly over a short distance. One stream, Ober Water, has very unusual plants and several rare dragonflies.
Lymington River Reedbeds		Y		41.7	YES	Lymington	HIWWT, Ramsar, SPA	This site in the Lymington River estuary used to be tidal, but now freshwater is kept in. It has reedbeds and natural grassland, which are important for breeding and migrating birds. The reedbeds have lots of aphids, which are a food source for the birds.
Mapledurwell Fen		Y		0.4		Basingstoke	HIWWT	This site is a small fen (a type of wetland).
Martin and Tidpit Downs		Y		367.5	YES	Salisbury	NCR, NNR, SM	This site is rich in ancient earthworks, like Bokerley Dyke. It has chalk grassland, heath, and scrub with many different herbs. Sheep grazing is helping the grassland become even better for plants. It's also amazing for butterflies, with 36 species recorded, including marbled white and Duke of Burgundy.
Micheldever Spoil Heaps		Y		32.1	YES	Basingstoke		This site is made of spoil heaps (piles of waste material) from railway building in the 1800s. Natural England says it's "exceptionally important" for its plants. Many rare plants have grown here, and there are large numbers of fly orchids.
Moorgreen Meadows		Y		14.3	YES	Eastleigh		These meadows are important for their populations of marsh orchids, especially the northern marsh orchid, which isn't found anywhere else in southern England. Different marsh orchid species grow close together here, creating new hybrid types, making it a place of "micro-evolution."
MoorsThe Moors, Bishop's Waltham		Y		28.0	PP	Winchester	LNR, NCR	These natural wet meadows and wet woodlands drain into Mill Pond. The meadows have many different plants, like greater pond sedge in wetter areas and purple moor-grass in drier parts.
Mottisfont Bats		Y		196.7	PP	Romsey	SAC	These woods are home to a nationally important population of the rare barbastelle bat. It's one of only six breeding sites for them in Britain! Eight other bat species have also been recorded here, including whiskered and brown long-eared bats.
New Forest		Y	Y	28,924.5	PP	Lyndhurst	GCR, HIWWT, NCR, NNR, NT, SAC, Ramsar, SPA	The New Forest has the largest area of wild plants in lowland England. It's big enough to help many rare animals and plants survive long-term. It has heath, wet areas, woodlands, and bogs. There are also seven important geological sites with very old rocks and Stone Age tools.
Noar Hill		Y		63.0	PP	Alton	HIWWT, NCR, SAC	This hill has a variety of chalk habitats, including grassland over ancient quarries, mature beech woodland, scrub, and hazel coppice. The site is nationally important for butterflies and grasshoppers. Forty species of butterfly have been recorded, including the declining Duke of Burgundy and brown hairstreak.
Norley Copse and Meadow		Y		7.5	NO	Lymington	Ramsar, SPA	The Crockford Stream runs through this site, which has old oak woodland with hazel coppice and natural grassland. The meadow has 140 types of plants and is rich in insects, including eight types of dragonflies and a rare fly.
North Solent		Y	Y	1,186.6	PP	Southampton	GCR, LNR, NCR, NNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This site has diverse habitats, including mudflats, saltmarshes, beaches, marshes, grassland, and woods. It has rich insect populations and is of international importance for its wintering and migratory wildfowl and waders. Stone Point is important for studies of very old rock layers and has many fossils from about 120,000 years ago.
Odiham Common with Bagwell Green and Shaw		Y		133.8	PP	Hook		Odiham Common was used for hunting by King Edward the Confessor long ago and is now a "wood pasture" (where animals graze among trees). Dead wood here is home to nationally rare flies. There are also areas of dry grassland, which has rare solitary bees and wasps, and of marshy grassland.
Old Burghclere Lime Quarry		Y		4.5		Newbury	HIWWT	This site is an old lime quarry.
Old Winchester Hill		Y		66.2	YES	Petersfield	NCR, NNR, SM	The south slope of this Iron Age hillfort is one of the richest plant sites in southern England, including the largest population of round-headed rampion in Britain. Other plants include greater butterfly-orchids, yellow-worts, autumn lady's-tresses, and 5% of the juniper trees in southern England.
Pamber Forest and Silchester Common		Y		341.7	YES	Tadley	HIWWT, LNR	Pamber Forest has hazel coppice dominated by oak trees. At the southern end are plants associated with ancient woodland, such as orpine, wood horsetail, lily of the valley, wild daffodil, and the rare mountain fern. The woodland has over forty nationally rare or uncommon species.
Peake Wood		Y		17.7	NO	East Meon		This is a prime example of a hazel and ash wood on lime-rich soils. There is also a variety of other trees and a rich herb layer, which is dominated by bluebell and dog's mercury. Other plants include the rare star-of-Bethlehem and fly orchid.
Poors Common		Y		47.4		Bransgore		This site is a common land area.
Porton Down		Y		1,559.0	PP	Salisbury	NCR, SAC, SPA	This is one of the largest areas of semi-natural chalk grassland in the country. It has also been designated an SSSI because of its important populations of lichens, plants, and insects, and for its breeding stone curlews. There are also areas of scrub and woodland.
Portsdown		Y		69.1	YES	Portsmouth		This is a linear south-facing slope with a rich chalk grassland flora. The diverse insect fauna includes all the chalk downland butterflies and a population of the largest British bush cricket. On the lower slopes, raised beaches indicate former sea levels.
Portsmouth Harbour		Y		1,264.2	PP	Portsmouth	Ramsar, SPA	Most of the harbour is composed of intertidal mudflats and cordgrass marshes, and they have abundant small creatures that provide food for birds. It is of national importance for dark-bellied Brent geese and for three species of waders, grey plover, black-tailed godwit, and dunlin.
Quarley Hill Fort		Y		3.5	NO	Andover	SM	This site on the land surrounding the Iron Age hill fort on Quarley Hill has chalk grassland which is maintained by cattle grazing. It is rich in herbs, such as felwort, small scabious, dropwort, chalk milkwort, greater butterfly-orchid, and bastard toadflax.
Ratlake Meadows		Y		4.2	NO	Winchester		These unimproved meadows on London Clay are recorded back to the sixteenth century and are probably much older. They are dominated by sweet vernal grass, heath grass, tufted hairgrass, and Yorkshire fog, and have a rich variety of herbs. Invertebrates include the rare bush cricket, long-winged conehead.
River Avon System		Y		475.9	PP	Salisbury	NCR, Ramsar, SPA	This site comprises stretches of the River Avon and its tributaries, which are described by Natural England as "of national and international importance for their wildlife communities". It has more than 180 species of aquatic plants and one of the most diverse fish species in the country. There is also a rich invertebrate fauna and mammals include water voles and water shrews.
River Itchen		Y		748.5	PP	Winchester	HIWWT, SAC	The SSSI covers the river and its banks, with fen, flood meadows, wet woodland, and swamp. It has populations of the nationally rare southern damselfly and white-clawed crayfish. Other fauna include otters, water voles, Atlantic salmon, shovelers, and Cetti's warblers.
River Test		Y		438.0	PP	Stockbridge	Ramsar, SPA	This chalk stream has one of the richest fauna and flora of any lowland river in England. More than 100 species of flowering plant have been recorded along its banks and 232 invertebrate taxa in the river. It is also important for wetland birds, with breeding species including kingfishers, grey wagtails, and little grebes.
Ron Ward's Meadow with Tadley Pastures		Y		11.5		Tadley	HIWWT	This site includes meadows and pastures.
Roydon Woods		Y		294.9	YES	Lymington	HIWWT, SAC	A large part of these woods are ancient, but other areas are former oak and hazel coppice planted in the nineteenth century. There are also areas of hornbeam and species-rich alder carr. The SSSI also includes a stretch of the Lymington River and many open glades.
Rushmore and Conholt Downs		Y		111.5	NO	Andover	NCR	These chalk downs have areas of grassland and scrub. There is also woodland, which is dominated by oak and ash with hazel coppice. A stand of juniper trees is over a hundred years old, and it is thought to be the oldest on chalk in England, with some trees over 6 meters tall.
Selborne Common		Y		99.8	YES	Alton	NCR, NT, SAC	Most of this site is woodland which is dominated by beech trees, but there is a small area of species-rich grassland. It is a nationally important site for molluscs with at least 41 species. There are about 30 species of butterfly, including brown hairstreak and silver-washed fritillary.
Shortheath Common		Y		59.5	YES	Bordon	LNR, SAC	The common has areas of bracken, woodland, heath, and a pond, but its main ecological interest is a large valley mire. Much of it is covered by Sphagnum mosses, but there are also many plants, such as velvet bent and the insectivorous round-leaved sundew. The invertebrates are also of particular interest, including 23 breeding species of dragonfly.
Sidley Wood		Y		11.7	FP	Andover		This south-facing secondary wood on chalk soil has many stands of ancient hornbeam coppice, some of more than 2 meters in diameter; no other comparable stands are known in south central England. Other trees are oak, field maple, ash, and hazel.
Sinah Common		Y		243.0	PP	Hayling Island		This coastal site has maritime shingle grassland, some of which is rich in lichens, sand dunes, heath, and saltmarsh. It has also been designated an SSSI because of its population of the endangered flowering plant childing pink at one of only two sites in Britain, and for its outstanding assemblage of other nationally scarce plants. There are also populations of nationally rare and scarce invertebrates.
Southampton Common		Y		90.3	YES	Southampton		The main ecological importance of this public park lies in its many amphibians, including one of the largest British populations of the nationally rare great crested newt. The common also has the two other species of newts native to Britain, palmate and smooth. The newts live in the lakes and ditches on the common and use the ditches to migrate to hibernating sites.
Sowley Pond		Y		49.3	NO	Lymington	Ramsar, SPA	The pond was formed in the fourteenth century by damming a stream, and in the seventeenth century became a hammer pond for an ironworks. It is a refuge for ducks feeding on the surface and by diving, and it is surrounded by woods which have the largest heronry in the county.
St Catherine's Hill		Y		43.0	YES	Winchester	HIWWT, SM	This hill is covered by chalk grassland scrub and surrounded by the ramparts of an Iron Age hillfort. It has a rich herb flora, including thyme, common rock-rose, carline thistle, felwort, fairy flax, and frog orchid. Sheltered areas are rich in invertebrates.
Stockbridge Common Marsh		Y		64.8	YES	Stockbridge, Hampshire	NT	This site stretches for 2 km along the flood plain of the River Test. It has wetland habitats including marsh, fen, carr, alluvial meadows, and a large shallow lake. The marsh has a rich variety of flora, with 180 species of flowering plants, including bog pimpernel, adder’s-tongue fern, marsh valerian, and bogbean.
Stockbridge Down		Y		69.8	YES	Stockbridge, Hampshire	NCR, NT, SM	This site has a variety of scrub and grassland habitats on a north-west facing slope of chalk and a clay-with-flints plateau. There is a diverse range of butterflies, such as chalk-hill blue, marbled white, and dark green fritillary, while moths include the oblique striped.
Stockbridge Fen		Y		6.0		Stockbridge, Hampshire	NCR	This site is a fen (a type of wetland).
Titchfield Haven		Y		134.5	PP	Fareham	LNR, NNR, Ramsar, SPA	This was formerly a tidal estuary, but one way valves block salt water and it is now freshwater river and marshes, wet meadows bisected by ditches, and fen. It is important for wetland breeding birds, such as bearded reedlings, sedge warblers, and reed warblers.
Toyd Down and Quarry		Y		6.7	PP	Fordingbridge		This site is composed of two parts. Toyd Down is well developed grassland, while the quarry was worked until about 1970. This makes the site a good subject for studying the colonisation of bare chalk next to a mature species-rich meadow. Among the early colonisers are basil thyme, carline thistle, and mouse-ear hawkweed.
Trodds Copse		Y		26.0		Romsey		This site is a copse (a small wood).
Upper Greensand Hangers: Empshott to Hawkley		Y		37.7	PP	Liss	SAC	This site comprises a number of woods along steep rocky slopes. These conditions produce unusual lime-rich woodlands and specialised mosses and liverworts on the rocks. The dominant tree is ash, which has often been coppiced. The ground flora is diverse, including plants such as dog's mercury and yellow archangel.
Upper Greensand Hangers: Wyck to Wheatley		Y		13.2	PP	Bordon	SAC	This site is composed of woods on the steep rocky slopes. Bare rocks are covered by lime-loving mosses. There is also a population of the nationally scarce mollusc Macrogastra rolphii.
Upper Hamble Estuary and Woods		Y		151.2	PP	Southampton	LNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA	This site comprises the upper estuary of the River Hamble, together with adjoining saltmarsh, reedswamp, and ancient semi-natural woodland. The woods have a diverse ground flora and invertebrate fauna. There is also a narrow zone of mudflats, with large numbers of marine worms, crustaceans, and molluscs, which provide food for birds.
Waltham Chase Meadows		Y		6.4		Southampton		This site consists of meadows.
Warblington Meadow		Y		3.9	NO	Havant		This site has areas of fresh and salt water marshes. It has a rich flora, with 158 species of flowering plants recorded, including marsh arrow-grass, ragged robin, creeping jenny, corky-fruited water-dropwort, bog pimpernel, and southern marsh orchid. There is also a small unpolluted brook lined with trees.
Warnborough Green		Y		4.4	YES	Hook	HIWWT	This site consists of two species-rich wet meadows on either side of the River Whitewater. There are thirteen species of sedge, such as distant, flea, and brown sedge. Invertebrates include two nationally rare flies.
Wealden Edge Hangers		Y		222.2	PP	Liss	LNR, NNR, SAC	Natural England describes this site as "arguably,...one of the ecologically most interesting and diverse series of chalk woodlands in Britain". The rich ground flora includes many rare species, and 289 species of plants have been recorded. There are more than 111 species of mosses and liverworts, and the lichen flora is the second richest in the country with 74 species.
West Minley Meadow		Y		4.5		Camberley		This site is a meadow.
West Woodhay Down		Y		1.5	PP	Inkpen		This steeply sloping site on the Berkshire Downs is unimproved chalk grassland dominated by upright brome; but it has a rich variety of flora, including yellow-wort, purging flax, autumn hawkbit, wild mignonette, fragrant orchid, and burnet saxifrage.
Wick Wood and Worldham Hangers		Y		91.8	PP	Alton	SAC	This site has ancient semi-natural woods on the steep slopes and the adjacent gently sloping Gault Clay, with a number of springs at the junction of the two. The ground flora on the unstable upper slopes is sparse, but lower down it is rich and dominated by wild garlic. Two ponds add to the habitat diversity.
Wild GroundsThe Wild Grounds		Y		28.2	YES	Gosport	LNR	This site was probably common land until around 1600, after which it developed into woodland dominated by oak trees. It is not rich in flora, but is of great interest ecologically and historically for its natural origin and its structure, being composed of old trees of uneven age which will be allowed to live their natural life span.
Woolmer Forest		Y		1,298.5	PP	Liphook	NCR, SAC, SPA	The forest has a nationally important heathland flora, with rare plants such as tower mustard, mossy stonecrop, shepherd’s cress, and smooth cat’s-ear. The invertebrate fauna is very rich. There are extensive areas of open water and it is the only site in the country known to have all twelve native species of reptiles and amphibians.

See also

• List of local nature reserves in Hampshire
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust