Appendix 4
NATURE CONSERVATION DESIGNATED SITES
Nature Conservation Sites – Explanatory Note
Within the District sites have been designated according to their nature conservation importance. The hierarchy of designated sites is explained below and the sites are listed in the following schedule:
Hierarchy of Sites
1. Special Areas of Conservation
Special Areas of Conservation (SAC's) are designated under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive). Candidate SAC's are selected from Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
2. Ramsar Sites and Special Protection Areas
None in the Vale.
3. National Nature Reserves
National Nature Reserves (NNR's) can be declared under section 19 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (as amended by the Nature Conservancy Act 1973) or section 35 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
4. Site of Special Scientific Interest
English Nature has a duty under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to identify Sites of Special Scientific Nature (SSSI's) which are of outstanding interest as a result of their flora, fauna or geological features. There are 21 such sites in the Vale.
5. Local Nature Reserves
Local Nature Reserves (LNR's) may be established by Local Authorities in consultation with English Nature under section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. They are habitats of local importance.
6. County Wildlife Sites
Sites of critical importance for nature conservation within Oxfordshire, which are not already statutory designations, are referred to as County Wildlife Si tes (CWS's).
7. Ancient Woodlands
Ancient Woodlands are those areas of woodland which have had a continuous cover of native trees since at least 1600AD to the present day, having not been cleared and/or extensively replanted since then. The term applies to the site only, not the trees present. The data collection for the Oxfordshire ancient woodlands was carried out in the 1980's on behalf of the Nature Conservancy Council, now English Nature and the report was entitled 'Oxfordshire Inventory of Ancient Woodlands', D P Hughes, 1988.
8. Ecological Networks
Although specific site protection is extremely important there is now recognition that the health and quality of the wider countryside can affect the long term viability of individual habitats and species. Wildlife corridors and ecological networks can play an important role in maintaining the diversity of the environment. Corridors (such as hedgerows, road verges, watercourses and their banks) and ecological networks (including small woods and ponds) can be both beneficial to nature conservation and landscape features in their own right but may not be covered by a specific designation.
9. Alert Maps
Alert Maps collate information on significant known sites of nature conservation importance in Oxfordshire. These Alert Maps can be inspected at the District Council's Offices, in Abingdon.
10. Local Wildlife Sites, also known as Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC's)
None.
11. Geologically Important Sites
English Nature is promoting the identification of Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIG's) through the establishment of local groups. RIG's will be non-statutory, locally based sites which will be designated and managed informally and voluntarily.
Schedule of Designated Sites
1. Special Areas of Conservation Parish
| Cothill Fen, Candidate status | Besselsleigh |
| Hackpen Hill, Candidate status | Childrey |
2. National Nature Reserves
| Cothill, part of SSSI | Besselsleigh |
3. Sites of Special Scientific Interest
| Appleton with Eaton | |
| Ashbury | |
| Blewbury | |
| Marcham and St Helen Without | |
| Buckland | |
| Cothill Fen and Parsonage Moor | Besselsleigh and St Helen Without |
| Cumnor | |
| St Helen Without | |
| Uffington and Fernham | |
| Frilford, Fyfield and Tubney | |
| Eaton Hastings | |
| Childrey | |
| Hurst Hill (Including Chawley Brick-Pitts SSSI) | Cumnor |
| Kennington | |
| Hinton Waldrist | |
| Besselsleigh and Wootton | |
| Stanford in the Vale | |
| Radley | |
| Shrivenham and Watchfield | |
| Uffington | |
| Little Coxwell and Faringdon | |
| Wytham | |
| Wytham and Cumnor |
4. Local Nature Reserves
| Shrivenham | |
| Abbey Fishponds (proposed) | Abingdon |
| South Hinksey (proposed) | South Hinksey |
| Iffley Fritillary Meadows (proposed) | Kennington (part only) |
| Kennington Pond (proposed) | Kennington |
5. County Wildlife Sites
| Appleton Upper Common | 50.78 ha | |
| Hutchins's Copse | 4.48 ha | |
| Isley Bottom | 8.48 ha | |
| Knollend Grassland | 4.12 ha | |
| The Cuttings | 13.5 ha | |
| The Cuttings | 0.71 ha | |
| Kingstone Coombes | 8.74 ha | |
| Kingstone Down | 8.29 ha | |
| Kingstone Down | 1.27 ha | |
| Kingstone Down | 14.57 ha | |
| Middle and Hailey Woods | 46.67 ha | |
| Odstone Coombes | 7.84 ha | |
| Odstone Hill Lane | 2.07 ha | |
| Upper Wood | 38 ha | |
Shifford Chimney Meadows | 1.25ha | |
| Above Lids Bottom | 10.38 ha | |
| Blewburton Hill | 5.32 ha | |
| Blewbury Hill | 2.24 ha | |
| Blewbury Hill | 1.14 ha | |
| Chilton Disused Railway Line | 7.99 ha | |
| Chilton Disused Railway Line | 0.53 ha | |
| Chilton Disused Railway Line | 0.32 ha | |
| Buckland Marsh (East) | 20.45 ha | |
| Buckland Warren Woods | 128.04 ha | |
| Buscot Park Lake | 8.72 ha | |
| Cherbury Camp | 10.02 ha | |
| Pigtrough Bottom | 2.9 ha | |
| Bushey Leaze Copse | 6.04 ha | |
| Chawley Footpath | 3.18 ha | |
| Farmoor Reservoir | 190.96 ha | |
| Long Copse | 3.3 ha | |
| Long Leys Farm Meadows | 4.46 ha | |
| Pasture near Chawley | 1.71 ha | |
| Smith Hill Copse | 4.99 ha | |
| Cumnor * | Somerford Mead | 5.76 ha |
| Thames Island west of Farmoor | 1.76 ha | |
| Denchworth * | North Mead Lane Meadow | 6.72 ha |
| Cowslip Meadow | 14.82 ha | |
| Knollend Down | 8.66 ha | |
| Taylor's Hill Annexe | 1.06 ha | |
| Tubney Woods | 54.27 ha | |
| Tubney Woods | 48.92 ha | |
| Coxwell Wood | 48.73 ha | |
| Badbury Forest ? Eaton Wood | 121.1 ha | |
| Faringdon Wet Meadow | 3.65 ha | |
| Chinaman Copse | 2.44 ha | |
| Bagley Wood (3 areas) | 56.91 ha | |
| Bagley Wood (3 areas) | 124.2 ha | |
| Bagley Wood (3 areas) | 36.44 ha | |
| Fiddlers Elbow Island | 2.39 ha | |
| Kennington Memorial Field | 4.8 ha | |
| Kennington Pool | 0.85 ha | |
| Crog Hill and Scary Hill | 9.12 ha | |
| Long Spinney Copse | 6.85 ha | |
| Castlehill | 0.88 ha | |
| Castlehill | 0.95 ha | |
| Letcombe Cress Beds | 7.37 ha | |
| Letcombe Reed Swamp | 1.24 ha | |
| Edge of Grove Wood | 0.87 ha | |
| Lattin Down, Lockinge | 4.37 ha | |
| Newhouse Cover | 7.51 ha | |
| Marcham * | Denman Fishponds | 1.09 ha |
| Gozzards Ford Fen | 1.79 ha | |
| Marcham Salt Spring | 0.56 ha | |
| Harcourt Hill Scrub | 17.29 ha | |
| Turf Pits Covert | 10.81 ha | |
| Radley Large Wood | 21.98 ha | |
| Radley Little Wood | 3.02 ha | |
| Thames Cut | 1.25 ha | |
| Chaslins Copse | 3.23 ha | |
| Lyde Copse | 2.07 ha | |
| Pennyhooks Brook Marsh | 2.44 ha | |
| Chilswell Valley | 6.83 ha | |
| Limekiln Copse and Valley | 8.96 ha | |
| Beech Wood, Westcot Down | 2.67 ha | |
| Wixen Bush | 0.84 ha | |
| Steventon * | Steventon Copse | 3.17 ha |
| Kingstone Warren Down (north) | 10 ha | |
Didcot to Upton Railway | 2.56ha | |
| Ashen Pen | 4.53 ha | |
| Black Bushes Wood | 4.76 ha | |
| Upper Black Bushes | 4.83 ha | |
| West Hendred | Ginge Brook | 5.5 ha |
| Kingston Warren Down (South) | 1.2 ha | |
| Wootton * | Foxcombe | 11.14 ha |
| Memorial Garden | 0.74 ha |
* SITE DENOTIFIED
6. Ancient Woodlands
Oxfordshire Inventory (Provisional) held on maps available in Planning Strategy Section (at the District Council Offices in Abingdon).
7. Geologically Important Sites
| Coxwell Pit | Faringdon |
| Faringdon (Rogers Concrete) | Faringdon |
| The Manger, Whitehorse Hill | Woolstone |
| Hatford Sand Pit | Hatford |
| Gimbro Copse Quarry | Pusey |
| Dry Sandford Quarries | St Helens Without |
| Tubney Woods | Fyfield and Tubney |
| Shellingford Quarry | Shellingford |
| Wicklesham Quarry | Faringdon |