Bencroft Hill Meadows () is a 5.1
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
biological Site of Special Scientific Interest some to the east of the town of
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England,
notified in 1988. The site is a flora-rich example of unimproved pasture on the
Oxford Clay Vale of North Wiltshire which attracts butterflies such as the
small copper,
small heath and
common blue
The common blue butterfly or European common blue (''Polyommatus icarus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic. Butterflies in the Polyommatinae are collectively c ...
.
Sources
Natural England citation sheet for the site(accessed 22 March 2022)
External links
Natural England website(SSSI information)
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire
Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1988
Meadows in Wiltshire
{{Wiltshire-geo-stub