Totternhoe Chalk Quarry

Totternhoe Knolls is a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire. It is also a local nature reserve, and part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of the site is maintained jointly by the National Trust and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN), and is part of the WTBCN Totternhoe nature reserve, which also includes Totternhoe Chalk Quarry and Totternhoe Stone Pit. The SSSI also includes Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is a Scheduled monument. Part of the site was formerly a quarry where Totternhoe Stone, a strong type of chalk that was used in Westminster Abbey, was mined. This part is now grassland with a rich variety of plant species, including some that are now rare; these are characteristic species of chalk downland and include kidney vetch, horseshoe vetch, large thyme, squinancywort, autumn gentian, clustered bellflower, sainfoin and dwarf thistle. Orchids that grow here include common spotted orchid, Herminium monorchis Musk orchid, Orchis anthropophora Man orchid, bee orchid and twayblade . There are a wide variety of invertebrates, including butterflies such as the common blue, the chalkhill blue, and the scarce small blue and Duke of Burgundy fritillary.Totternhoe Castle was probably built in the late eleventh century. Only the earthworks survive, with a mound five metres tall and 40 metres wide. It is unusual in having three baileys.There is access from the National Trust car park off Castle Hill Road.

Totternhoe is a village and civil parish in the Manshead hundred of the county of Bedfordshire, England.

Totternhoe Stone Pit is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire, England. It is also a Geological Conservation Review site, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council.The site displays the base of the Totternhoe Stone. It is a lime mud with an extensive deposit of late Cretaceous shark teeth, some of species which have not been fully described, so it will be an important resource for further research. The lower levels contain larger teeth, and in upper ones there are some small rays.The site is part of the Totternhoe nature reserve, managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, but there is no public access to the Stone Pit.

Totternhoe nature reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN). The 31-hectare (77-acre) site is in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire, and it includes parts of three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Totternhoe Knolls is a biological SSSI owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of it is managed jointly by the National Trust and the WTBCN, excluding Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is part of the SSSI but not of WTBCN's nature reserve. Totternhoe nature reserve also includes the geological SSSI, Totternhoe Stone Pit, which is not open to the public, and other areas owned by WTBCN, including part of Totternhoe Chalk Quarry, another biological SSSI.Much of the site is former quarries for Totternhoe stone, a durable chalk which was used in building Westminster Abbey. This has left steeply sloping spoil heaps now grasslands which are rich in flowers, including many species of orchids, such as Cowslips, which are the favourite food of the caterpillars of the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly. The site is also the best place in Bedfordshire to see the scarce small blue butterfly.The site has a National Trust car park off Castle Hill Road. There is also access to Totternhoe Chalk Quarry by a footpath from Sewell Cutting in Houghton Regis.

The Cross Keys is a Grade II listed pub in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England It is a 17th-century thatched building and the first floor is timber-framed.

Sewell is a hamlet located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. Sewell is a small rural settlement, though it is located near to the town of Dunstable (and therefore the wider Luton/Dunstable/Houghton Regis Urban Area). The settlement forms part of the Houghton Regis civil parish. It is north of Dunstable Downs at the northern edge of the Chiltern Hills. The hamlet is beside London and North Western Railway's disused branch line that linked Dunstable with the main line at Leighton Buzzard. This is now a cycle route and consists of Sewell Cutting which heads towards Dunstable and a long embankment in the direction of Stanbridge. One hundred and fifty metres south of the former railway track are Maiden Bower, an Iron Age hill fort and Totternhoe Chalk Quarry. Sewell hosts a collection of listed homes and barns but one of the most prominent properties in the hamlet is Sewell Manor. This grade II list manor house dates back to around the 13th century and is full of character and history. It was purchased by Henry Brandreth 1652 from the Civil War Sequestrators. In recent years it has fallen into disrepair but has now recently been purchased by the Roche family to become their main residence and restoration work has begun to restore this manor back to former glory. Maiden Bower used to consist of a roughly circular bank topped with wooden posts. It had a diameter averaging around 225 metres. It now has a 3 metre high hedged bank, 100 metres of which has been undermined by the cliffs of the adjacent quarry. The enclosure contains the buried remains of a small Roman building. Previous excavation of the ditches has discovered ancient human remains.An early Bronze Age hoard was found in Sewell in 1968 and consists of a beaker, wrist-guard, toggle and pin, all now in the British Museum's collection.

Totternhoe Castle was a Norman castle in Totternhoe. Bedfordshire. Only earthworks survive. It is a Scheduled Monument, and part of Totternhoe Knolls Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Lancot Park is a cricket ground in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. Situated at the foot of Dunstable Downs, on the outskirts of the village of Totternhoe, Lancot Park is the home of Dunstable Town Cricket Club. The ground and clubhouse was constructed in 1993 and hosted its first Minor Counties Championship the following year, when Bedfordshire played Northumberland in 1994. From 1994 to 2008, the ground played host to 13 Minor Counties Championship matches, with the final Minor Counties Championship match played to date at the ground in 2008 seeing Bedfordshire host Suffolk. The ground has also hosted 5 MCCA Knockout Trophy matches, the most recent of which saw Bedfordshire play Buckinghamshire in 2009.The ground has also hosted a single List A match between Bedfordshire and the Derbyshire Cricket Board in the 1st round of the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, which was played in 2001.The Northamptonshire Second XI have also used the ground for Second XI Championship matches.In local domestic cricket, Lancot Park is the home ground of Dunstable Town Cricket Club, who play Saturday cricket in the Hertfordshire Cricket League a and in the Bedfordshire League on Sundays.

The Church of St Giles is a Grade I listed church in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 3 February 1967. The church was built using stone from local quarries and has a fine exterior. Flint flushwork decoration is used in the gable of the chancel. Building began in the 14th century and was not completed until the 16th.

Maiden Bower is an Iron Age hillfort near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. The site, which also has traces of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, is a scheduled monument.

Totternhoe Football Club is a football club based in Totternhoe, near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. They play in the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two.

Totternhoe Roman villa is on Church Farm, Church Road, in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England. No sign of it is now visible, as it has been filled in and grassed over.The villa was excavated by the Manshead Archaeological Society under the direction of C. L. Matthews in the 1950s. It was a Roman courtyard house, 200x240 feet, with at least 14 rooms, with mosaics, hypocausts and painted wall plaster. Pottery was mainly late 4th century, but there was also some from the 2nd century. 5-6th century Saxon potsherds were also found, suggesting occupation after the villa was abandoned. Finds from the site can be seen in the Roman gallery of Stockwood Discovery Centre.