Wittering, Cambridgeshire

West, Abbot's and Lound Woods is a 50.4-hectare (125-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Wittering in Cambridgeshire.The site has a variety of woodland types, some of which are rare in Britain, including plateau alderwood. There are ancient woodland plants such as yellow archangel and toothwort.The site is private land with no public access.

Whitewater Valley is a 4.3-hectare (11-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Wittering in Cambridgeshire.Habitats in this site include a stream together with associated marsh, tall fen and willow carr. The carr has a varied flora, and the marsh has many plants rare in the county. There are also springs, which have mosses including the uncommon cratoneuron commutatum.The site is private land with no public access.

Southorpe Roughs is a 9.8-hectare (24-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Southorpe in Cambridgeshire.This is a disused quarry which has grassland on Jurassic limestone. The main grasses are tor-grass and sheep's fescue, and there are the nationally rare plants spotted cat's ear and pasque flower.The site is private land with no public access.

Bonemills Hollow is a 17.5-hectare (43-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wittering in Cambridgeshire.The valley has marsh and Jurassic calcareous grassland areas. The marshland is on the valley floor, and dominant species are lesser pond-sedge and the rushes Juncus articulatus and Juncus inflexus. Areas of scrub and willow carr provide additional habitats for invertebrates and birds.The site is private land with no public access.

Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering (ICAO: EGXT) is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Bedford Purlieus is a 211-hectare (520-acre) ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is a national nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. In Thornhaugh civil parish, 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Stamford and 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Peterborough, the wood is within the Peterborough unitary authority area of Cambridgeshire, and borders Northamptonshire. In Roman times it was an iron smelting centre, during the medieval period it was in the Royal Forest of Rockingham, and later it became part of the estates of the Duke of Bedford. Bedford Purlieus appears to have been continuously wooded at least from Roman times, and probably since the ice receded. The woodland may have the richest range of vascular plants of any English lowland wood. It acquired particular significance in the 1970s as an early subject for the historical approach to ecology and woodland management.

Thornhaugh is a civil parish and village in the city of Peterborough unitary authority, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For electoral purposes it forms part of Glinton and Wittering ward in North West Cambridgeshire constituency. Thornhaugh (or Thornhaw) is derived from Old English and means a thorn enclosed low-lying meadow beside a stream. There is evidence of a settlement here as far back as the 12th century, but probably has earlier origins. Although the village of Thornhaugh itself is quite small, the parish is one of the largest in the county of Cambridgeshire at 1,096.33 acres (443.67 ha). The parish is crossed by the A1 and A47 roads. The village was declared a conservation area in 1979. The road that runs through the village is Russell Hill, named after William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh who lived here. The Russell family are also associated with the Bedford Estate in Central London where you will find Thornhaugh Street and Russell Square in Bloomsbury. St Andrew's Church dates from the 12th century, although much restored in the 19th century; it is a Grade I listed building. The village sign commemorates the first Baron Russell of Thornhaugh. Although the main village is close to the A1 road, there is a significant hamlet (Home Farm, Leicester Road, Thornhaugh) with a dozen houses about one mile west of the main village just off the A47 road, consisting of an old hunting lodge (now two houses) and associated farm buildings (all now residential). The Sacrewell Farm and Country Centre is in the parish, to the east of the A1. Sacrewell is named after a "Sacred Well" in Sacrewell field near Sacrewell Lodge. Some sort of mill probably existed here since the Roman occupation. Excavations have found two Roman villas, a corn drier and storage building - an ideal site being adjacent to Ermine Street and next to a spring. Three mills in the area were mentioned in the Domesday book, and it is likely that Sacrewell was one of them. A new watermill, mill house and farm were completed in 1755 and was originally called Curtis's farm after William Curtis who died in 1779. William Scott Abbott became a tenant at the farm during the First World War and expanded the farm operations. After his death his widow Mary carried on following her husband's dream. Her nephew David Powell took over the management of the farm in 1959 and in 1964 Mary founded The William Scott Abbott Trust. The vision was to provide an agricultural education for all and the educational values they promoted are still very much alive. The watermill remained a working mill until 1965, when it was no longer profitable, however, it has now been fully restored as a heritage working mill; a centre of milling excellence and an educational tool with a £1.4 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Sacrewell visitor centre was opened to the public in 1981 and the farm and watermill are now successful visitor attractions. Within the parish of Thornhaugh is Bedford Purlieus National Nature Reserve, an historic woodland of 520 acres and part of what was the ancient Royal Forest of Rockingham. Up to the mid 1600s it was known as Thornhaugh Woods or The High wood of Thornhaw. The name changed when the Dukes of Bedford took ownership renaming it Bedford Purlieus. English Nature declared the wood a National Nature Reserve in 2000, in recognition of its importance as a species-rich semi-natural native woodland. The wood is the most ecologically diverse wood in Britain and home to more plant and insect species than most other woods in this country. Muntjac and fallow deer are found on the reserve, and bird life includes nightingale, red kite, sparrowhawk, kestrel, little owl, tawny owl and long-eared owl. Reptiles at the site include adders, grass snakes, common lizards and slow worms. Bedford Purlieus is managed by English Nature and Forest Enterprise in partnership and is open to the public during daylight hours. There is significant confirmation of Roman industrial occupation within the wood with many iron ore extraction pits and evidence of a bath house. It was featured on series 17 of television's Time Team in 2011. During the Second World War, Bedford Purlieus was used as part of RAF Kings Cliffe for airmen's living accommodation which were dispersed around the woods to reduce the risk of being hit in the event of an air raid. Various foundations still remain. Buildings within Leedsgate Farm (private property) included the theatre, gym and chapel for the airbase.

Burghley House () is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family and is Grade I listed. The exterior largely retains its Elizabethan appearance, but most of the interiors date from remodellings before 1800. The house is open to the public on a seasonal basis and displays a circuit of grand and richly furnished state apartments. Its park was laid out by Capability Brown.The house is on the boundary of the civil parishes of Barnack and St Martin's Without in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire. It was formerly part of the Soke of Peterborough, an historic area that was traditionally associated with Northamptonshire. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) south of Stamford and 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Peterborough city centre. The house is now run by the Burghley House Preservation Trust, which is controlled by the Cecil family.

Pilsgate is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Barnack, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Pilsgate is close to the county boundary and 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Stamford, Lincolnshire. In 1881 the parish had a population of 125.

St Martin's Without is a civil parish in the Peterborough unitary authority, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. It was originally created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 from the part of the Stamford Baron St. Martin parish which was outside the municipal boundary of Stamford. It became part of the Barnack Rural District of the Soke of Peterborough, geographically part of Northamptonshire from 1894, and under the Local Government Act 1972 has formed part of the Peterborough district of Cambridgeshire since 1974. The parish contains parts of Burghley Park.

Wansford Pasture is a 3.1-hectare (7.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wansford in Cambridgeshire. It is part of the 7.3 hectare Wansford Pasture & Standen's Pasture, a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN).This is a south-facing slope, with Jurassic limestone grassland and a flush lower down which has a wide variety of wet-loving plants, including some which are rare in the county. The ecology is maintained by avoiding the use of fertilisers and herbicides, and by grazing. The WTBCN was enlarged by the donation of Standen's Pasture in 2007.There is access to the site from Old Leicester Road.

Barnack Hills & Holes is a 23.3-hectare (58-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Barnack in Cambridgeshire. It is also a national nature reserve. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. In 2002 it was designated as a Special Area of Conservation, to protect the orchid-rich grassland as part of the Natura 2000 network of sites throughout the European Union.Arising from the rubble of a medieval quarry, the Hills and Holes is one of Britain’s most important wildlife sites. Covering an area of just 50 acres (22 ha), the grassy slopes are home to a profusion of wild flowers. This type of meadowland is now all too rare; half of the surviving limestone grassland in Cambridgeshire is found here. In 2002 it was designated as a Special Area of Conservation, to protect the orchid-rich grassland as part of the Natura 2000 network of sites throughout the European Union.The hummocky landscape was created by quarrying for limestone. Barnack stone, was a valuable building stone first exploited by the Romans over 1,500 years ago. Stone from Barnack was used to build Peterborough and Ely Cathedrals. By the year 1500 however, all the useful stone had been removed and the bare heaps of limestone rubble gradually became covered by the rich carpet of wild flowers that can be seen today. The limestone was originally formed in Jurassic times. It is made from the remains of billions of tiny sea-creatures which lived in a warm shallow sea that covered the area 150 million years ago.Barnack’s rich flora supports a wide variety of wildlife, especially insects, and a number of nationally scarce species are found. Limestone grasslands are traditionally grazed with sheep and at Barnack, grazing is carried out in autumn by up to 300 sheep. These remove the summer growth and build-up of leaves, stalks and grass tussocks that would otherwise die back to form a dead layer, or litter, on the ground. Without grazing, the build-up of coarse grasses and litter would rapidly choke the rarer lime-loving plants.