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Sharpenhoe Clappers
Smithcombe, Sharpenhoe and Sundon Hills is an Site of Special Scientific Interest in Sharpenhoe in Bedfordshire. Most of it is a National Trust property comprising Sundon Hills, Moleskin and Markham Hills, Sharpenhoe Clappers and Smithcombe Hills. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Sharpenhoe Clappers is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (for its prehistoric and medieval features). Much of the site is unimproved chalk grassland with many plants which are now rare, and Festuca ovina is dominant over large areas. Orchids include Herminium monorchis and Aceras anthropophorum. An uncommon rose, Rosa stylosa, is found in scrub areas. There is also beech forest with a ground layer including primroses. Clappers are rabbit warrens (from the French "clapier"), and meat, fur and leather from rabbits used to be an important part of the local economy. Sharpenhoe Clappers is an Iron Age hill fort, together with medieval rabbit warrens and associated agr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009. Bedfordshire is bordered by Cambridgeshire to the east and north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east and south. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton (258,018) and Bedford (106,940). The highest elevation point is on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns. History The first recorded use of the name in 1011 was "Bedanfordscir," meaning the shire or county of Bedford, which itself means "Beda's ford" (river crossing). Bedfordshire was historically divided into nine hundreds: Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
