The well-wooded, mature and attractive landscape contains a number of places to visit such as Rushmere Country Park in Heath and Reach to the west, the RSPB's nature reserve at The Lodge near Sandy and the popular Greensand Ridge Walk running the entire distance. In some places the clay vale is very narrow: for example at Oxted the gap between summits of the Greensand Ridge and the North Downs is less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). West of the Weald the Lower Greensand has produced a more extensive area of hills and valleys, including the highest point in Sussex, Blackdown. Here in Bedfordshire the Lower Greensand Formation forming Greensand Country is known as the Woburn Sands. It's name may have something to do with the local quarry stone which the building is mostly constructed from. Wander into one of the Greensand Ridge's ancient woodlands in late April and you'll encounter drifts of bluebells. Hills on the Greensand Ridge at least 200 metres high and with 30 metres or more of topographical prominence are here listed, along the range from west to east. A practice of treating the Greensand Ridge regularly as part of the Weald arose in geology when natural scientists, starting in the late 18th century, began to include it in their analysis of the geological history of the Wealden dome. Resources are now running low and little is now extracted.[10]. The Greensand Ridge Walk is a long-distance walk of 42 miles that crosses Bedfordshire, with brief sections in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. Principal settlements lying on the southern part of the Greensand in Sussex, adjacent to the South Downs, include Storrington (at the eastern end of the ridge) and Midhurst. Extending for 108 miles, it starts in the west at Haslemere and ends in the east at Ham Street, Kent, on the edge of Romney Marsh. anticline) and then deformed and faulted. The Greensand Ridge is one of the few places in Central England where thin, sandy soils support lowland heathland and acid grassland - distinctive landscapes which support specific wildlife and vegetation and need to be protected to thrive. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge is an escarpment which runs through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire in the south and east of England.A pathway runs along the ridge from Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay. It is from here that the stone known as chert is found, familiar in the High Chart hills around Limpsfield, Surrey. [1] [2] In 2009, the Greensand Ridge Local Action Group was formed to help enhance and develop the Greensand Ridge area. For more information on the walk and to download maps visit Central Bedfordshire Council's website. The south-west part of the Greensand ridge and hills is in the South Downs National Park. [4], The Lower Greensand is composed of alternating mudstones (sandy, with clay particles such as smectite) and sandstones, up to a maximum thickness of about 400 metres (1,300 ft), and is composed of a number of distinct formations, namely the Folkestone Beds, Sandgate Beds, Bargate Beds, Hythe Beds and Atherfield Clay. The Stone Jug is located on the route in the village of Clophill and a fine place to stop for a break and something to eat. The Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge National Character Area (NCA) is a narrow ridge running north-east, south-west, rising out of – and entirely surrounded by – the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands NCA.It is a distinctive ridge with a north-west-facing scarp slope, formed by the underlying sandstone geology which has shaped the landscape and industry of the Ridge. Limited parking available at Stockgrove entrance. Broadly speaking, the Greensand Ridge runs along the northern edge of the Weald in a west-east arc from Surrey into Kent, just south of and parallel to the chalk escarpment of the North Downs. It's a place of some historic note having been converted to a pub from a 16th century building. Please park at Rushmere main entrance Linslade Road OPEN 9am - 5.30pm daily (final entry at 5pm). About 51 per cent of the Wealden Greensand is protected as the South Downs National Park, Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[2]. It follows a ridge of greensand (hence the name!) The Greensand Ridge is a distinctive “island” of significantly wooded sands and sandstone that rises prominently above the surrounding clay vales. The Greensand Ridge Walk is Bedfordshire's premier long distance walk. Greensand Way in Kent, 1992, Kent Count Council, Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, "NCA Profile:120 Wealden Greensand (NE465)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greensand_Ridge&oldid=995929480, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 December 2020, at 17:01. Greensand Ridge Walk, Ampthill: Address, Greensand Ridge Walk Reviews: 4.5/5. Differential fluvial erosion has virtually flattened the dome into a series of hills and vales. Bedfordshire Rural Community Charity and the Greensand Trust are leading the Secrets of the Sands Heritage Lottery Funded Landscape Partnership Programme for the Greensand Ridge. Unlike the chalk downs of the Chilterns, this area is well-wooded (seen in the distance); the soils are too poor and well-drained for good faming. The Greensand Ridge Walk is Bedfordshire's premier long distance walk. Greensand ridge, Bedfordshire This ridge of sand-stone, known as the Lower Greensand, lies north of the Chiltern Hills. It reaches its highest elevation, 294 metres (965 ft), at Leith Hill in Surrey—the second highest point in south-east England, while another hill in its range, Blackdown, is the highest point in Sussex at 280 metres (919 ft). It reaches its highest elevation, 294 metres (965 ft), at Leith Hill in Surrey—the second highest point in south-east England, while another hill in its range, Blackdown, is the highest poin… On the fertile soils we see chestnut and stands of hazel and oak, while Scots Pine and Birch colonise the poorer soils.[6]. The ridge itself forms Geology: Mostly Greensand, with mudstone on the bottom of the slopes.There are several pockets of glacial materials overlying the greensand. The Lower Greensand is a predominantly arenaceous sandstone consisting of sediment that accumulated apparently in a shallow sea in the later part of the Lower Cretaceous. The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand[1] is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. The Greensand Ridge Local Action Group (LAG), managed by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC), was awarded £1.443m LEADER funding to invest in local projects between 2015 and 2020. The ridge continues eastwards past Sevenoaks, until south-west of Maidstone it is broken by the valley of the River Medway. With a toehold in both Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, and stretching over 45km, the vast majority of this attractive landscape is in Bedfordshire and is home to distinctive habitats and wildlife. This stretch of the Greensand has become the most closely identified with the term "Greensand Ridge", and it includes the second highest point in south-east England, Leith Hill in Surrey. The eastern end of the ridge forms the northern boundary of Romney Marsh. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}51°10′N 0°22′W / 51.167°N 0.367°W / 51.167; -0.367. South of here the Vale of Fernhurst has been eroded down into the Low Weald by what is now a small stream following a line of a gentle west-east trending upfold. Petersfield marks the western end, where the ridge turns north east. The top-most and therefore youngest layer of the dome is Chalk, laid down in the Upper Cretaceous. Greensand Country covers 40 miles of scenic landscape, which is defined by the Greensand Ridge and reaches three neighbouring counties: from Cambridgeshire in the East, across Bedfordshire and to Buckinghamshire in the West. Europe ; United Kingdom (UK) England ; Bedfordshire ; Ampthill ; ... Bedfordshire, United Kingdom 483 contributions 102 helpful votes. The Greensand Ridge is sometimes associated with the Weald; the ridge forms the high border of area of the Weald. Ironstone, from layers embedded in the Sandgate Beds, is often seen in chips (gallets) pressed into the mortar between such stones. The Greensand Ridge Walk is a long-distance walk of 40 miles (64 km) that crosses Bedfordshire, with brief sections in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. The Greensand Ridge Walk is a long-distance walk of 40 miles (64 km) that crosses Bedfordshire, with brief sections in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. Whether you would like to try mountain biking or just want to walk the dog you'll find it all here. The Jutes and Saxons who settled in south-east England in the centuries following the collapse of the Roman empire applied the term Weald (a Germanic term for woodland) to the very large, heavily wooded forest that they found lying inland of the coastal lands and river valleys that they initially settled. As 2020 comes to an end, we'd like to acknowledge how delighted we are to have been able to provide a safe environment to support our local and wider community’s health and wellbeing needs throughout the difficult times of this year. Fuller's earth, which lies interbedded between the Bargate and Sandgate Layers, was much quarried for the cloth industry. 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