Barkway Chalk Pit is a small (0.3 hectare) nature reserve in Barkway in North Hertfordshire. It was managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT).[1] In February 2016 HMWT announced that three sites, Barkway Chalk Pit, Hill End Pit and Pryor's Wood, which HMWT managed on behalf of their owner, North Hertfordshire District Council, were to return to Council management as the Trust was no longer able to meet the cost.[2]

The site has been designated a Regionally important geological site (RIGS) by the Hertfordshire RIGS Group.[3] It exposes a chalk block which is out of position because it was displaced by the Anglian ice sheet which covered Hertfordshire around 450,000 years ago.[3] The vegetation is chalk scrub, and there are many species of birds, including yellowhammer, spotted flycatcher, blue tit and tawny owl.[1]

The entrance to the site is a short distance along an unnamed road which goes north from the junction of The Joint and Royston Road.

References

  1. 1 2 "Barkway Chalk Pit". Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "North Herts District Council takes back management of three Trust nature reserves". Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. 15 February 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 "A Geological Conservation Strategy for Hertfordshire" (PDF). Hertfordshire RIGS Group. 2003. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2010.
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