Coombe Hill () 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 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, notified in 1994.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> Stroud District Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 ‘Sites of Nature Conservation Interest’
The site lies within the

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

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

and the Cotswold Hills Environmentally Sensitive Area. It is near

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills ...

. It is moderately steep, and mainly faces south.

Flora

The hill is a large, unimproved

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

grassland pasture area, with an ungrazed area and an edge of broadleaved woodland (along the western boundary). This site is of special notification because of its large area of ''flower rich'' grassland. It is specifically a site for the nationally rare Limestone Woundwort ''(Stachy alpina)''. A nearby site ( Wotton Hill SSSI) supports this rare plant also.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Coombe Hill, Stroud units

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Image:Looking towards Coombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 273624.jpg, Looking towards Coombe Hill, Stroud Image:Strip Lynchets on Coombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 273634.jpg, Lynchets on Coombe Hill, Stroud Image:Strip Lynchets on Coombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 273638.jpg, Lynchets on Coombe Hill, Stroud Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1994 Cotswolds Wotton-under-Edge {{England-SSSI-stub