Roughdown Common

Roughdown Common
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Sign at the entrance to Roughdown Common nature reserve, Hemel Hempstead, UK.
Area of Search Hertfordshire
Grid reference TL047057
Interest Biological
Area 3.6 hectares
Notification 1985
Location map Magic Map

Roughdown Common is a 3.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. The planning authority is Dacorum Borough Council.[1][2] The site is Common land,[3] and it is owned by the Box Moor Trust. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[4]

The Common is a steeply sloping chalk hill in south Hemel Hempstead. It was formerly the site of a large chalk quarry, and an entrance to a mine shaft still exists. Bats roost and hibernate in the mine workings. It is one of the few examples of unimproved calcareous grassland in Hertfordshire. The dominant grasses are meadow fescue and meadow oat-grass, and there are colonies of orchids. It is the only site in the county where common juniper regenerates naturally. The grassland habitat is maintained by sheep grazing.[1][4]

The site is always open and there is access from footpaths starting at the junction of Roughdown Road and Roughdown Avenue.

An explanatory panel , placed by the Box Moor Trust, stands by the quarry entrance near the Roughdown Avenue railway bridge.

Roughdown Common, the old chalk quarry.
A wooded part of the common in winter


See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roughdown Common.

References

  1. 1 2 "Roughdown Common citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Map of Roughdown Common". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Roughdown Common". Common Land in England. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Roughdown Common". Chilterns Conservation Board. Retrieved 21 December 2014.

Coordinates: 51°44′25″N 0°29′06″W / 51.7402°N 0.4850°W / 51.7402; -0.4850

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.