Bourton Down () is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near

Bourton-on-the-Hill Bourton-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, and about west of Moreton-in-Marsh. In 2010 it had an estimated population of 288.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 1974.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001–2011 (on line) as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Location and habitat

The site lies within the

Cotswold 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 Juras ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is one of a series of grassland sites on

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

limestone. The site supports the Pasqueflower which is of some importance as there are few remaining sites. The site also supports

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 nor ...

, and has good populations of

Early Purple Orchid ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

and

Bee Orchid Bee orchid is a common name for several orchids and may refer to: *'' Cottonia peduncularis'', a species of orchid from India and Sri Lanka *'' Diuris carinata'', a species of orchid from the south-west of Western Australia *'' Ida barringtoniae'', ...

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Bourton Down unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1974 Cotswolds {{England-SSSI-stub