Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire
Cambridgeshire reserves

Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire

Section Title: Cambridgeshire reserves
Table Section Text: None

Site	Photograph	Area	Location	Public access	Designations	Description

Arthur's Meadow	Arthur's Meadow	0.8 hectares (2.0 acres)	Hemingford Grey 52°18′22″N 0°06′29″W / 52.306°N 0.108°W TL292692	YES	SSSI	The site is calcareous clay pasture with a wide variety of plant species, including the herbs oxeye daisy and yellow rattle.

Beechwoods	Beechwoods	10 hectares (25 acres)	Cambridge 52°10′16″N 0°10′12″E / 52.171°N 0.170°E TL485547	YES	LNR	Beeches were planted on chalky farmland in the 1840s, and medieval plough terraces are still visible. Birds include green and great spotted woodpeckers, and nuthatches.

Brampton Wood	Brampton Wood	132 hectares (330 acres)	Brampton 52°18′58″N 0°16′12″W / 52.316°N 0.27°W TL184698	YES	SSSI	This is one of the few surviving areas of ancient woodland in the county. It is wet ash and maple on heavy clay soil, with rides which have a varied grassland flora, such as yellow pimpernel, greater bird's-foot-trefoil and devil's-bit scabious.

Buff Wood	Buff Wood	16 hectares (40 acres)	Hatley 52°08′10″N 0°07′48″W / 52.136°N 0.13°W TL281503	WTPR	SSSI	This site is ecologically diverse boulder clay woodland, with a range of wildflowers, including oxlips and the uncommon green hellebore. There are butterflies such as brimstones, large whites, orange-tips and speckled woods.

Cambourne	Cambourne Nature Reserve	90 hectares (220 acres)	Cambourne 52°13′05″N 0°04′30″W / 52.218°N 0.075°W TL316595	YES	This site has woodland, lakes, ponds, grassland and an orchard. The lakes and ponds have water voles and great crested newts, and birds include skylarks and corn buntings.

Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits	Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits	11 hectares (27 acres)	Cambridge 52°10′48″N 0°10′05″E / 52.18°N 0.168°E TL483557	YES	LNR, SSSI	The two parts of the site are both former chalk quarries. East Pit is surrounded by steep walls of chalk, and the base is wildflower grassland with areas of scrub.

Chettisham Meadow	Chettisham Meadow	0.7 hectares (1.7 acres)	Chettisham 52°25′23″N 0°15′54″E / 52.423°N 0.265°E TL541830	YES	SSSI	The site is grassland on calcareous clay, and evidence survives of ridge and furrow medieval farming. Flowering plants include adder's tongue, cowslip and the uncommon green-winged orchid.

Doghouse Grove	Doghouse Grove	0.8 hectares (2.0 acres)	Wilburton 52°20′56″N 0°10′19″E / 52.349°N 0.172°E TL480745	YES	In the medieval period this was a series of monastic fishponds, which can still be seen in wetter periods. It is now an ash wood, with flowers including bluebells and lords-and-ladies.

Dogsthorpe Star Pit	Dogsthorpe Star Pit	37.2 hectares (92 acres)	Peterborough 52°36′29″N 0°12′36″W / 52.608°N 0.21°W TF213026	YES	LNR, SSSI	This former brick pit has been designated an SSSI mainly for its invertebrates, especially its water beetles, with 64 species, including four on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Graptodytes bilineatus, Dryops similaris, Gyrinus distinctus and Myopites inulaedyssentericae.

Fordham Woods	Fordham Woods	10 hectares (25 acres)	Fordham 52°18′14″N 0°23′31″E / 52.304°N 0.392°E TL632700	YES	SSSI	This wet woodland site has semi-natural alder coppice, with ash, crack willow and silver birch. The ground flora has tall fens, together with herbs such as marsh marigold and yellow flag.

Fulbourn Fen	Fulbourn Fen	31 hectares (77 acres)	Fulbourn 52°10′41″N 0°13′48″E / 52.178°N 0.230°E TL526557	YES	SSSI	These are ancient meadows on calcareous loam and peat which have never been farmed, so they have a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

Gamlingay Cinques	Gamlingay Cinques	3.4 hectares (8.4 acres)	Gamlingay 52°09′40″N 0°12′32″W / 52.161°N 0.209°W TL226529	YES	This site is on dry sandy soil, which is an unusual habitat in the county. Grazing by sheep helps to restore the acid grassland and prevent encroachment by woodland and scrub.

Gamlingay Wood	Gamlingay Wood	70 hectares (170 acres)	Gamlingay 52°10′01″N 0°11′13″W / 52.167°N 0.187°W TL240537	YES	SSSI	This is ancient ash/maple woodland on sandy loam soil, an unusual habitat in lowland England. Ground flora include dog's mercury, yellow archangel, wood anemone and the nationally restricted oxlip.

Gamsey Wood	Gamsey Wood	4 hectares (9.9 acres)	Woodwalton 52°25′08″N 0°12′04″W / 52.419°N 0.201°W TL225 816	YES	The main trees in this wood are ash and field maple, but there are also several wild service trees. Spring flowers include bluebells, wood anemones and yellow archangels, and there are birds such as fieldfares and nightingales.

Godmanchester	Godmanchester Nature Reserve	59 hectares (150 acres)	Godmanchester 52°19′44″N 0°09′14″W / 52.329°N 0.154°W TL258717	PP	The site has four former gravel pits which are now lakes, together with areas of grassland, willow woodland and reedbeds. Birds include wigeons, tufted ducks, teals and great crested grebes, and there are insects such as dragonflies and butterflies.

Grafham Water	Grafham Water	114 hectares (280 acres)	Grafham 52°17′24″N 0°19′34″W / 52.290°N 0.326°W TL143 671	YES	SSSI	Grafham Water is a reservoir, and the nature reserve is at its western end. It has open water, woodland, grassland and reedbeds.

Great Fen	Great Fen	1,184 hectares (2,930 acres)	Holme 52°29′10″N 0°13′26″W / 52.486°N 0.224°W TL207890	PP	This is a large wetland project which covers National Nature Reserves run by Natural England, and areas managed by the Trust.

Hardwick Wood	Hardwick Wood	15 hectares (37 acres)	Caldecote 52°12′14″N 0°01′02″W / 52.204°N 0.0172°W TL356580	YES	SSSI	This medieval wood is now managed by coppicing. It is mainly ash and field maple, while the oldest parts have pedunculate oak with an understorey of hazel and hawthorn, while ground flora include early-purple orchid and yellow archangel.

Hayley Wood	Hayley Wood	52 hectares (130 acres)	Great Gransden 52°09′36″N 0°06′47″W / 52.160°N 0.113°W TL292530	YES	NCR, SSSI	The soil in this wood is heavy and often waterlogged, conditions which suit meadowsweet and oxlip. The numbers of oxlip declined from around 2 million to 250,000 due to the pressure of excessive numbers of deer, but they have revived since the construction of a fence in 2002.

Houghton Meadows	Houghton Meadows	8 hectares (20 acres)	Houghton 52°19′41″N 0°06′14″W / 52.328°N 0.104°W TL293717	YES	SSSI	Some of these fields are pasture and others are hay meadows, and they display ridges and furrows from medieval ploughing. They are a type of neutral grassland which is declining nationally.

Lady's Wood	Lady's Wood	7.1 hectares (18 acres)	Upwood 52°25′37″N 0°10′23″W / 52.427°N 0.173°W TL243826	YES	This wood was a traditional coppice, but many of the trees were cut down in the 1950s. Birds include blackcaps, fieldfares and green woodpeckers and there are invertebrates such as orange-tip butterflies and azure damselflies.

Lattersey	Lattersey	11.3 hectares (28 acres)	Whittlesey 52°33′07″N 0°06′40″W / 52.552°N 0.111°W TL282966	YES	LNR	This former clay brick quarry has pits which have filled with water, and it has diverse habitats of grassland, woodland, scrub, pools, marshes and reedbeds.

Lower Wood	Lower Wood	9 hectares (22 acres)	Weston Colville 52°09′00″N 0°22′26″E / 52.150°N 0.374°E TL625528	YES	This ancient woodland has a variety of flora such as oxlips and early-purple orchids in the spring and water avens and germander speedwells in the summer.

Norwood Road	Norwood Road	2.6 hectares (6.4 acres)	March 52°33′40″N 0°05′20″E / 52.561°N 0.089°E TL417980	YES	This site has a deep pond, marshland and hawthorn scrub. There are wetland birds such as coots, moorhens and mallards, and other wildlife includes noctule bats and weasels.

Ouse Washes	Ouse Washes	186 hectares (460 acres)	Little Downham 52°27′07″N 0°09′43″E / 52.452°N 0.162°E TL470860	YES	NCR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA, SSSI	The Washes are internationally significant for wintering and breeding wildfowl and waders, especially teal, pintails, wigeons, shovelers, pochards and Bewick's swans.

Overhall Grove	Overhall Grove	17 hectares (42 acres)	Knapwell 52°15′00″N 0°02′35″W / 52.250°N 0.043°W TL337631	YES	NCR, SSSI	This site is the largest elm woodland in the county. It was seriously affected by Dutch elm disease, but many trees have regenerated from their bases, and the mixture of new growth and dead wood provides a very good habitat for insects and birds.

Pingle Cutting	Pingle Cutting	1.0 hectare (2.5 acres)	Warboys 52°25′01″N 0°04′12″W / 52.417°N 0.070°W TL313816	YES	This former railway cutting has grassland with ox-eye daisy, salad burnet, wild carrot and hairy violet. There is also woodland with forest plants such as bluebells and dog's mercury.

Raveley Wood	Raveley Wood	5.6 hectares (14 acres)	Upwood 52°25′08″N 0°10′19″W / 52.419°N 0.172°W TL244817	YES	Trees in this wood include oak, ash and field maple, together with some elms, although many were killed by Dutch elm disease.

Shepherd's Close	Shepherd's Close	1.2 hectares (3.0 acres)	Spaldwick 52°19′23″N 0°20′20″W / 52.323°N 0.339°W TL133707	YES	This small wood was planted in 1984 with ash, field maple and oak. Birds include blackcaps and chiffchaffs, and there are peacock, orange-tip and speckled wood butterflies.

Shepreth L Moor	Shepreth L Moor	7.3 hectares (18 acres)	Shepreth 52°06′29″N 0°01′16″E / 52.108°N 0.021°E TL385475	YES	SSSI	This is unploughed calcareous grassland which has diverse flora such as horseshoe vetch and felwort in drier areas, and devil's bit scabious and fen bedstraw in wetter ones.

Skaters' Meadow	Skaters' Meadow	2 hectares (4.9 acres)	Cambridge 52°11′31″N 0°06′18″E / 52.192°N 0.105°E TL440569	NO	The meadow is flower-rich wet grassland. Flora include common spotted orchids, cuckooflowers, meadowsweets, marsh-marigolds and ragged-robins.

Soham Meadow	Soham Meadow	3.6 hectares (8.9 acres)	Soham 52°19′44″N 0°21′36″E / 52.329°N 0.360°E TL609727	YES	SSSI	This site is neutral grassland with diverse fauna and flora, including uncommon ones. Wetter areas have herbs such as green-winged orchids and adder’s tongue fern, and there are cowslips and stemless thistles in drier parts.

Southorpe Meadow	Southorpe Meadow	2.0 hectares (4.9 acres)	Southorpe 52°36′54″N 0°24′07″W / 52.615°N 0.402°W TF083031	YES	SSSI	This is one of the few surviving areas of neutral grassland in the county, where ridge and furrow from medieval ploughing can be seen.

Southorpe Paddock	Southorpe Paddock	1.6 hectares (4.0 acres)	Southorpe 52°36′25″N 0°24′04″W / 52.607°N 0.401°W TF084022	YES	SSSI	This site is a rare example of unimproved grassland on the Jurassic limestone of eastern England. It has typical limestone plants such as purple milk-vetch and clustered bellflower.

Stanground Newt Ponds	Stanground Newt Ponds	0.8 hectares (2.0 acres)	Peterborough 52°32′56″N 0°13′44″W / 52.549°N 0.229°W TL202961	YES	This site has ponds and a wet meadow, with smooth and great crested newts. Other fauna include common frogs, damselflies and dragonflies.

Stanground Wash	Stanground Wash	26 hectares (64 acres)	Peterborough 52°33′43″N 0°13′08″W / 52.562°N 0.219°W TL208975	NO	The site is sandwiched between the East Coast Main Line railway line and Back River, a tributary of the River Nene.

Thorpe Wood	Thorpe Wood	10 hectares (25 acres)	Peterborough 52°34′16″N 0°17′31″W / 52.571°N 0.292°W TL158983	YES	This is ancient woodland on heavy clay, with mature oak and ash trees, and an understorey of hazel and field maple.

Trumpington Meadows	Trumpington Meadows	58 hectares (140 acres)	Trumpington 52°10′12″N 0°06′11″E / 52.170°N 0.103°E TL439545	YES	This site has flower meadows, woodland, ponds, and is adjacent to the River Cam and Byron's Pool, where Lord Byron once swam.

Upwood Meadows	Upwood Meadows	6 hectares (15 acres)	Upwood 52°25′34″N 0°09′43″W / 52.426°N 0.162°W TL251825	YES	NCR, NNR, SSSI	The site has three fields on calcareous clay with poor drainage, a type of pasture now very rare, and was described by Derek Ratcliffe as having "an outstandingly rich and diverse flora".

Wansford Pasture & Standen's Pasture	Wansford Pasture	7.3 hectares (18 acres)	Wansford 52°34′55″N 0°25′26″W / 52.582°N 0.424°W TL069994	YES	SSSI	This is a south-facing slope, with Jurassic limestone grassland and a flush lower down which has a wide variety of wet-loving plants, including some which are rare in the county.

Waresley and Gransden Woods	Waresley Wood	50 hectares (120 acres)	Waresley 52°10′37″N 0°09′25″W / 52.177°N 0.157°W TL261548	YES	SSSI	This ancient woodland is mainly ash, field maple and hazel. There are also rides with diverse flora such as the herbs bush vetch, meadowsweet, greater burnet-saxifrage and self-heal.

Wistow Wood	Wistow Wood	8.5 hectares (21 acres)	Wistow 52°25′16″N 0°05′46″W / 52.421°N 0.096°W TL296820	YES	SSSI	This wood has many old ash coppices, most of which were cut at ground level in the 1920s and left to re-grow.

Woodston Ponds	Woodston Ponds	10 hectares (25 acres)	Peterborough 52°33′58″N 0°16′05″W / 52.566°N 0.268°W TL175979	YES	LNR	The site was formerly settling ponds to remove washings from sugar beets. The east side has a lake with water birds such as grey herons, tufted ducks and pochards.

Woodwalton Marsh	Woodwalton Marsh	1 hectare (2.5 acres)	Woodwalton 52°24′50″N 0°13′08″W / 52.414°N 0.219°W TL212811	YES	SSSI	This grassland on calcareous clay has diverse flora, including red fescue, quaking grass, knapweed, cowslip, pepper saxifrage, green-winged orchid and the rare sulphur clover.

Sentence(s)

Ouse Washes site is 186 hectares (460 acres), which is internationally significant for wintering and breeding wildfowl and waders.

final_sentence: Ouse Washes site is 186 hectares (460 acres), which is internationally significant for wintering and breeding wildfowl and waders.