Aldbury Nowers is a 19.7 hectares (49 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the Chiltern Hills, north-east of Tring in Hertfordshire. The site was notified in 1990 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.[1][2] It is managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Hertfordshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SP952135 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 19.7 hectares (49 acres) |
| Notification | 1990 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
The site, formerly known as "Duchie's Piece," comprises two areas of hillside, linked by The Ridgeway. The calcareous meadow element of the site hosts the flowers of chalk grassland and has butterfly habitats with thirty-four different species of butterfly recently recorded, including the Duke of Burgundy, hairstreaks and the Essex skipper. The site also includes a "beech hanger", a type of upland ancient woodland, and is considered one of the best examples of this feature in Hertfordshire.[1][3]
Archaeological features on the site are two sections of Grim's Ditch,[1] part of a 30-kilometre (19 mi) linear earthwork thought to originate in the Iron Age, and two bowl barrows, from either the Late Neolithic or the Bronze Age periods.[4][5]
Northwest of the village of Aldbury, it adjoins the Pitstone Hill SSSI in Buckinghamshire and provides views over the Tring Gap and Vale of Aylesbury.[1][3]
The site is always open and there is access by a footpath from Northfield Road.[3]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d "Aldbury Nowers - 1005932" (PDF). naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "Map of Aldbury Nowers". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Aldbury Nowers". Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Bowl barrow in Aldbury Nowers Wood (1018209)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ Historic England. "Bowl barrow in Turlhanger's Wood (1015592)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
51°48′42″N 0°37′08″W / 51.811569°N 0.618893°W
