Berkshire Downs Escarpment CTA (Conservation Target Area) The western section of the escarpment running from Letcombe to the county boundary, divided into two core sections that correspond to the areas identified in the AONB Chalk Grassland report 1. These sections have the main areas of chalk grassland and significant archaeological features such as Uffington White Horse and Castle, Wayland Smithy and Segsbury Camp. The area extends south of the most steeply sloping escarpment to the Ridgeway. It also includes slopes along hills running south into Berkshire and land including Kingston Down and Ashdown Park. Besides the further areas of chalk grassland this section is rich in archaeological features. Joint Character Area: Berkshire and Marlborough Downs. Landscape Types: Chalk Downland Slopes. Geology and geomorphology: Chalk with a number of coombes. Topography: A north and north west facing escarpment and east and west facing steep banks in the southern area. Area of CTA: 2,195 hectares Biodiversity: • Chalk grassland. Extensive areas of chalk grassland at White Horse Hill and Hackpen Hill. A number of smaller sites most of which are County Wildlife Sites. There are some areas of restored grassland. • Woodland: There are a few plantations. The main sites are near Uffington, within the SSSI and at Ashdown Park. • Parkland: Ashdown Park has some good veteran trees and includes an SSSI for the lichen flora on sarsen stones. • Geology: The coombes in this area are of geomorphological importance including the SSSI at White Horse Hill. The sarsen stones are also of great geological interest. • Species: the arable land supports a good flora and the area is important for farmland birds such as corn bunting.
Access: Open access at Whitehorse Hill and the Ridgeway and other bridleways are well-used. A number of areas are included in CROW. There is also some access on National Trust land at Ashdown Park.
Archaeology: Many sites including Uffington White Horse, Uffington Castle, Wayland Smithy, Segsbury or Letcombe Castle and Seven Barrows.
Oxfordshire Biodiversity Action Plan Targets associated with this CTA: 1. Chalk (lowland calcareous) grassland – management 2, restoration and creation. 2. Arable Field Margins (and arable in-field options) – management and creation (with particular emphasis on arable wildflowers and farmland birds on arable fields and margins, and on the verges of byways and bridleways). 3. Lowland mixed deciduous woodland, wood pasture and parkland, lowland beech and yew woodland – management and restoration (with specific reference to veteran tree and woodland management at Ashdown Park). 4. Hedgerows – management.
1 Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre (2005) Chalk Grassland Strategy Report. North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 2 “Management” implies both maintaining the quantity, and maintaining and improving the quality of existing BAP habitat and incorporates the following target definitions: “Maintaining extent” and “Achieving Condition”.
Woolstone Kingston Lisle Wantage Knighton Childrey
Letcombe Regis Ashbury Letcombe Bassett
Bishopstone
Area of BAP habitat present in CTA (from TVERC BAP Habitat GIS layer 5/2010) and 2015 BAP Habitat Targets for this CTA Coastal Berkshire Lowland Lowland Wood - Lowland Lowland and Eutrophic Downs Lowland Lowland Beech Mixed Wet Pasture Traditional Calcareous Dry Acid Floodplain Standing Reedbeds Meadows Fens and Yew Deciduous Woodland and Orchards Escarpment Grassland Grassland Grazing Waters Woodland Woodland Parkland CTA Marsh Area of BAP Habitat in 164.5 5.3 57.1 20.8 CTA (ha) % of CTA 7.5 0.2 2.6 0.9 area
% of county 22.4 0.7 1.2 1.1 resource Wood - 2015 Coastal Eutrophic Pasture Lowland Lowland and Traditional Lowland Standing Lowland and BAP Calcareous Dry Acid Floodplain Reedbeds Native Woodland Orchards - Meadows Waters – Fens Parkland No targets Grassland Grassland Grazing No targets targets Targets not for 2015 Marsh for 2015 divided by (hectares) CTA Maintenance (to be ------determined) Achieving Condition (to be ------determined)
Restoration 3 - - - -
Creation 26 - - - -