Barnsley Warren () is a

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 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, notified in 1954 and renotified in 1984. The site is also included in ''

A Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...

''. It lies in a steep-sided dry valley, east of the A429, northeast of

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 (on line) as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). Following the introduction of the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...

, the whole of the site was designated "access land" and is therefore open to public access. There are seven units of assessment and the Gloucestershire Pasqueflower Reserve is unit 4.Natural England SSSI information on the Barnsley Warren units
/ref>

Gloucestershire Pasqueflower Reserve

Natural England SSSI information on Barnsley Warren
Within the boundary of the Warren, at , is the

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gl ...

's Gloucestershire Pasqueflower Reserve which is a site.BBC - Breathing Places - Pasqueflower Reserve - Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
(accessed 11 April 2009) Detailed information is published in the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook.Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al, 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'

Pasqueflower The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to the ...

(''Pulsatilla vulgaris'') is found in larger quantities here than anywhere else in

the Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames, Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the be ...

, which are at the western limit of this species' European range. The flowers bloom in late April or early May. The population has been estimated at over twenty thousand plants. This is a south-west facing slope of

Oolitic limestone Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 ...

slope. The thin rendzina soils become richer colluvial deposits in the valley floor. There is a typical Cotswold winterwell in the south-east corner. When this floods in winter it becomes the source of the Ampney Brook.

Other notable plants and species

The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserves handbook lists species. Other notable plants found at the site include

man orchid ''Orchis anthropophora'' (formerly ''Aceras anthropophorum''), the man orchid, is a European species of orchid whose flowers resemble a human figure. The head is formed by the petals and sepals, and the suspended torso and limbs by the lobes of t ...

(''Aceras anthropophorum''),

musk orchid ''Herminium monorchis'', the musk orchid, is a commonly occurring species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe and northern Asia from France to Japan, including China, Siberia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, etc. It ...

(''Herminimum monorchis''), slender bedstraw (''Galium pumilum''),

chalk milkwort ''Polygala calcarea'', the chalk milkwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygalaceae, native to western Europe. It is a delicate mat-forming evergreen perennial growing to tall by broad, with spikes of small, vivid deep blue fl ...

(''Polgala calcarea''),

round-headed rampion Phyteuma orbiculare, common name round-headed rampion or Pride of Sussex, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus ''Phyteuma'' belonging to the family Campanulaceae. Description ''Phyteuma orbiculare'' reaches on average of height. A dee ...

(''Phyteuma tenerum'') and

bastard-toadflax Bastard toadflax or bastard-toadflax is a common name for a plant which may refer to: *'' Comandra'' *''Thesium humifusum ''Thesium humifusum'' is a species of hemiparasitic flowering plant in the family Santalaceae found in western Europe and n ...

(''Thesium humifusum'').Rodwell, J. S. (editor) 1992, ''

British Plant Communities ''British Plant Communities'' is a five-volume work, edited by John S. Rodwell and published by Cambridge University Press, which describes the plant communities which comprise the British National Vegetation Classification. Its coverage incl ...

'' volume 3, page 182 The diverse range of flowers and grasses is ideal for many downland insects and the reserve has particular good butterfly and bug populations. Recorded are

small blue The small blue (''Cupido minimus'') is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the fem ...

chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

and

dark green fritillary The dark green fritillary (''Speyeria aglaja'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Description in Seit ...

butterflies and the cydnid shield bug, ''

Sehirus ''Sehirus'' is a genus of burrowing bugs or negro bugs belonging to the family Cydnidae, subfamily Sehirinae ''Sehirinae'' is a subfamily of ''burrowing bugs'' belonging to the family Cydnidae Cydnidae are a family of pentatomoid bugs, ...

dubius'', feeds on the bastard-toadflax. The heath snail, recorded for the site, is an indicator of ancient grassland.

Conservation

The site is grazed to prevent the dominant growth of

upright brome ''Bromus erectus'', commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to . Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The Botanical name#Components of plant names, specific epit ...

and

tor-grass ''Brachypodium pinnatum'', the heath false brome or tor-grass, is a species of grass with a widespread distribution in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It typically grows in calcareous grassland, and reaches tall. The flowerhead is ...

Plant communities

The plant community in which the pasqueflower grows is CG5 (''Bromus erectus'' - ''Brachypodium pinnatum'' grassland) in the

British National Vegetation Classification __NOTOC__ The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain. A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related pr ...

References

SSSI source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Barnsley Warren units

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information)
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
{{SSSIs Gloucs biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1954 Nature Conservation Review sites Nature reserves in Gloucestershire Cotswolds