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Littledean Hall
Littledean Hall () is a country house in the village of Littledean, Gloucestershire, England. It has been described as one of the most haunted houses in England and is thought to be the oldest house in the United Kingdom which is still occupied. Saxon and Celtic remains have been uncovered in the cellars. Part of the house is designated an SSSI as it is a proven breeding roost for the Greater Horseshoe Bat ''(Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)''. Architecture and History Originally a Saxon hall, then a church, it was then converted to a Norman hall, complete with a crypt and undercroft. Testing has shown that these remains date back to the 5th century. However, when records began of the house in 1080, it had evolved into a substantial medieval manor house which was eventually replaced with a Jacobean house in 1612. The hall has seven bedrooms, a coach house, a dining room, sitting and drawing rooms, a stable, living room and cellar. The sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) which line the dri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country House
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who ruled rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832. Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses. With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Site Of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Selection and conservation Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological Biological SSSI/ASSIs may b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devil's Chapel Scowles
Devil's Chapel Scowles () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified England, in 1998. The site lies in the Forest of Dean and has four units of assessment by Natural England. Scowles Scowle is the ancient name for certain limestone outcrops located in the Forest of Dean. These are important in folk memory and in the local heritage. The pits, holes and features called scowles occur in the centre of the Dean and normally contain iron ore, which gave rise to mining in the area. This has given the impression these are the result of human activity. Scowles are formed by a geological process.Scowles in the Forest of Dean – their formation, history and wildlife, (undated), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service, Gloucestershire Geoconservation Trust, English Heritage and English Nature (now Natural England) joint publication Scowles are wildlife rich, and the minimum disturbance in the area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel
Buckshaft Mine & Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel ( and ) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1998. This site comprises two separate locations. One is Buckshaft Mine which is near the village of . The other location is Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel which is near the village of [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvan House Barn
Sylvan House Barn () is a stone built barn near the village of St Briavels, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Because of its breeding bats, the site was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1995. Sylvan House Barn supports a breeding roost of Lesser horseshoe bats which consists of one fifth of the known Gloucestershire breeding population, and has been deemed by Natural England to be of national importance. The notified site consists of the roofspace of the barn and the roof of an adjacent lean-to, in total an area of 0.005 hectares. Location and habitat The Wye Valley and Forest of Dean are one of the main locations for Lesser horseshoe bats because of the deciduous woodlands and, sheltered valleys, which provide a good feeding area, and the underground systems which provide roosting and breeding sites. The site is one of a series of Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley (Gloucestershire and Monmouthsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blaisdon Hall
Blaisdon Hall () is a Grade II* listed building at Blaisdon. It includes a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1995.Natural England SSSI information on the citation Blaisdon Hall supports a breeding roost of Lesser horseshoe bats which consists of one fifth of the known Gloucestershire breeding population, and has been deemed by Natural England to be of national importance. The site comprises part of the roof void, roof tiles, roof timbers, the flanking walls of the Hall and the nearby workshop. |
Greater Horseshoe Bat
The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an insectivorous bat of the genus '' Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe and is thus easily distinguished from other species. The species is sedentary, typically travelling up to between the winter and summer roosts, with the longest recorded movement being . The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 69–83 kHz, have most energy at 81 kHz and have an average duration of 37.4 ms. Description The greater horseshoe bat is the largest horseshoe bat in Europe.Schober, W., E. Grimmberger. 1997. It has a distinctive noseleaf, which has a pointed upper part and a horseshoe-shaped lower part. Its horseshoe noseleaf helps to focus the ultrasound it uses to 'see'. The greater horseshoe bat also has tooth and bone structures that are distinct from that of other rhinolophids. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with other towns and large villages being: Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouth, Magor and Usk. It borders Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north. Historic county The historic county of Monmouthshire was formed from the Welsh Marches by the Laws in Wales Act 1535 bordering Gloucestershire to the east, Herefordshire to the northeast, Brecknockshire to the north, and Glamorgan to the west. The Laws in Wales Act 1542 enumerated the counties of Wales and omitted Monmouthshire, implying that the county was no longer to be treated as part of Wales. However, for all purposes Wales had become part of the Kingdom of England, and the difference had little practical effect. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wye Valley
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; cy, Dyffryn Gwy) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. The River Wye ( cy, Afon Gwy) is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part passes through Rhayader, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye, but the area designated as an AONB covers surrounding a stretch lower down the river, from just south of Hereford to Chepstow. This area covers parts of the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, and is recognised in particular for its limestone gorge scenery and dense native woodlands, as well as its wildlife, archaeological and industrial remains. It is also historically important as one of the birthplaces of the modern tourism industry. The area is predominantly rural, and many people make a living from tourism, agriculture or forestry. Ross-on-Wye is the only town within the AONB itself, but Hereford, Monmouth, Coleford an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east. The area is characterised by more than of mixed woodland, one of the surviving ancient woodlands in England. A large area was reserved for royal hunting before 1066, and remained as the second largest crown forest in England, after the New Forest. Although the name is used loosely to refer to the part of Gloucestershire between the Severn and Wye, the Forest of Dean proper has covered a much smaller area since the Middle Ages. In 1327, it was defined to cover only the royal demesne and parts of parishes within the hundred of St Briavels, and after 1668 comprised the royal demesne only. The Forest proper is within the civil parishes of West Dean, Lydbrook, Cin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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