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South Oxfordshire Parishes

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Cherwell

South Oxfordshire

Vale of White Horse

West Oxfordshire

Districts - Landscape Types

Goring Heath

This map highlights the landscape types within the parish you selected, and its associated local character areas. You can click on any area of the map for a description of its landscape character and biodiversity. Please note that local character areas can cover large areas of the countryside, and may include several parishes, so the description may not be specific to this parish. If there are any wildlife habitats within the parish their descriptions can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Goring Heath Image Map

The following wildlife habitats fall within this parish. They are listed according to their associated landscape type or local character area.

If you want more information about any of the sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) listed below, take a look at English Nature's Nature on the Map website. It may also be possible to find out a bit more about the unnamed wildlife habitats in the parish by contacting the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (owls@oxfordshire.gov.uk) and quoting the site code next to the habitat description.

The majority of these wildlife habitats are on private land and access to them is not possible without permission of the landowner, unless there is a statutory right of way. However, many wildlife habitats in the county are open to the public. More information on these can be obtained from the Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum.

Wildlife Habitats

Wooded Estate Slopes and Valley Sides

Site Code: 68F11

Area: 9.1 ha

This site is an area of chalk grassland which is a national priority for nature conservation. Once much more common throughout the Chilterns it is now mainly restricted to the escarpment and some of the steeper banks elsewhere such as this site.

The chalk grassland here has the typical abundance of generally small wildflowers including eyebright, wild basil, rock rose and wild thyme. A good variety of other wildflowers is present including viper’s bugloss, autumn gentian, pyramidal orchid, dyer’s greenweed and basil thyme. The nationally scarce wild candytuft is present and early gentian, which is a national priority species, was recorded in 2000. Also present is dodder which is parasitic on other plants. At the edge of the site there is much scrub and some hazel coppice woodland. Butterflies that can be seen here include brown argus, common blue, gatekeeper, small heath and marbled white.