Totternhoe Knolls
The Totternhoe Knolls are a site of old quarries and earthworks beside Totternhoe in the south of Bedfordshire.
The site also includes Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is a Scheduled Monument.[1][2] This site is owned by the local council and leased to the National Trust.
Part of the site was formerly quarry workings for Totternhoe stone, a strong chalk that was used in Westminster Abbey. It is now grassland with a rich variety of plant species, including some that are now rare. There are a number of orchids and a wide variety of invertebrates, including butterflies such as the common blue, chalkhill blue, and the scarce small blue and Duke of Burgundy.[1][3]
Totternhoe Castle was probably built in the late eleventh century. Only the earthworks survive, with a mound 16 feet tall and 130 feet wide. It is unusual in having three baileys.[2]
Nature conservation
An area of 32 acres has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[4] It is also a Local Nature Reserve,[3] and part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[5]
Most of the site is maintained jointly by the National Trust and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, and is part of the trust's 'Totternhoe nature reserve', which also includes Totternhoe Chalk Quarry and Totternhoe Stone Pit.
Location
- Location map: ,-0.5688/zoom=14 51°53’7"N, -0°34’8"W
- Streetmap: SP979220
There is access from the National Trust car park off Castle Hill Road.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Totternhoe Knolls) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Totternhoe – Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Heritage List 1020772: Totternhoe Castle: a motte and bailey castle, mediæval quarries and cultivation terraces
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Totternhoe Knolls Local Nature Reserve - Natural England
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Totternhoe Knolls
- ↑ Langslow, Derek: 'The Chilterns' (English Nature) page 39