Gallows Hill SSSI, Wiltshire

Gallows Hill
Site of Special Scientific Interest
View towards Gallows Hill
Location within Wiltshire
Grid reference	ST 952 244
Coordinates	51°01′08″N 2°04′12″W / 51.019°N 2.070°W / 51.019; -2.070Coordinates: 51°01′08″N 2°04′12″W / 51.019°N 2.070°W / 51.019; -2.070
Interest	Biological
Area	27.8 hectares (69 acres)
Notification	1965

Gallows Hill SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the north side of the Ebble Valley in south Wiltshire. The area is chalk grassland and scrub which contains a number of animal and plant species that are nationally rare. The 27.8 hectares (69 acres) site was notified in 1965.

The site

The site includes three areas of a series of slopes with a range of aspects on a long ridge on a long ridge of Lower, Middle, and Upper Chalk formations.^[1] The site lies within the area of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.^[1] The OS grid reference for the site is ST 952 244.^[1]

Importance

The site is important as an example of a species rich downland habitat.^[1] This type of habitat has been reduced across the country because of changes in agricultural practice.^[1]

The site is notable for (in the grassland areas) Festuca ovina (sheep's fescue), Avenula pratensis (meadow oat-grass), Brachypodium pinnatum (tor-grass), and Polyommatus bellargus (Adonis Blue) - a nationally scarce species of butterfly, and in the scrub areas, Crataegus monogyna (common hawthorn), and Hedera helix (ivy).^[1]

History

Gallows Hill SSSI was first notified in 1965 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The notification was revised in 1975.^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gallows Hill SSSI Citation (PDF) (Report). English Nature. Retrieved 4 September 2016.

External links

English Nature website (SSSI information)
Defra map of site

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire

Acres Farm Meadow River Avon System Baverstock Juniper Bank Bencroft Hill Meadows Bentley Wood Bincknoll Dip Woods Blackmoor Copse Botley Down Bowerchalke Downs Box Mine Bracknell Croft Bradley Woods Bratton Downs Brickworth Down and Dean Hill Brimsdown Hill Britford Water Meadows Burcombe Down Burderop Wood Calstone and Cherhill Downs Camp Down Chilmark Quarries Chickengrove Bottom Chilton Foliat Meadows Clattinger Farm Clearbury Down Cley Hill Cloatley Manor Farm Meadows Clout's Wood Coate Water Cockey Down Colerne Park and Monk's Wood The Coombes, Hinton Parva Cotswold Water Park Cranborne Chase Dank's Down and Truckle Hill Distillery Farm Meadows East Harnham Meadows Ebsbury Down Emmett Hill Meadows Figsbury Ring Fonthill Grottoes Fyfield Down Gallows Hill Goldborough Farm Meadows Great Cheverell Hill Great Yews Gutch Common Ham Hill Hang Wood Harries Ground, Rodbourne Haydon Meadow Heath Hill Farm Homington and Coombe Bissett Downs Honeybrook Farm Inwood, Warleigh Jones's Mill River Kennet Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain King's Play Hill Knapp and Barnett's Downs Knighton Downs and Wood Landford Bog Landford Heath Langley Wood and Homan's Copse Little Grubbins Meadow Long Knoll Loosehanger Copse and Meadows Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows Lower Woodford Water Meadows Midford Valley Woods Morgan's Hill The New Forest North Meadow, Cricklade Odstock Down Out Woods Parsonage Down Pewsey Downs Picket and Clanger Wood Piggledene Pike Corner Pincombe Down Porton Down Porton Meadows Prescombe Down Rack Hill Ravensroost Wood Restrop Farm and Brockhurst Wood Rotherley Downs Roundway Down and Covert Salisbury Plain Savernake Forest Scratchbury & Cotley Hills Silbury Hill Spye Park Starveall and Stony Down Steeple Langford Down Stockton Wood and Down Stoke Common Meadows Stratford Toney Down Sutton Lane Meadows Throope Down River Till Tytherington Down Upper Waterhay Meadow Upton Cow Down West Yatton Down Whiteparish Common Whitesheet Hill Win Green Down Winklebury Hill Winsley Mines Wylye and Church Dean Downs Yarnbury Castle

Neighbouring areas Avon Berkshire Dorset Gloucestershire Hampshire Oxfordshire Somerset

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