Chalk Places to Visit in Bedfordshire

 

Brief notes about publicly-accessible Chalk-related sites and features of interest, including museums.
Information correct at time of publication, but you are advised to check public accessibility and safety details before visiting these places.

 


Barton Hills, near Hexton

Steep Lower Chalk escarpment with fine dry valleys; disused chalk pits including Hexton Chalk Pit, a Beds Wildlife Trust reserve; a chalk grassland SSSI and National Nature Reserve; the Icknield Way prehistoric road; Ravensburgh Castle Iron Age hillfort; springs with old watercress beds; link with literary geography of John Bunyan; part of Chilterns AONB, including walks leaflets.

OS Grid references: Barton Hills TL095299; Chalk Pit TL107299
 
Blows Downs, near Dunstable

Lower Chalk escarpment with clay capping; disused quarries e.g. Skimpot Quarry; a chalk grassland SSSI; mediaeval cultivation terraces present; a Beds Wildlife Trust reserve; views of Dunstable.

OS Grid reference: TL033216
 
Bradger’s Hill Chalk Pit, Luton

Chalk grassland; County Wildlife Site.

OS Grid reference: TL097243
 
Dallow Down, Luton

Chalk grassland; County Wildlife Site.

OS Grid reference: TL074214
 
Dunstable & Whipsnade Downs

Steep Middle Chalk escarpment with dry valleys; adjacent to Kensworth chalk quarry (see below); chalk grassland SSSI; part of Chilterns AONB; turf-cut lion figure associated with Whipsnade Zoo; served by Chilterns Gateway Centre managed by National Trust and owned by Beds County Council.

OS Grid references: Chilterns Gateway Centre TL008199; Whipsnade Lion SP996177
 
Houghton Regis Marl Lakes, near Dunstable

Disused quarry with Lower Chalk exposure, including the Totternhoe Stone horizon; marl lake rich in charophyte plants and chalk grassland designated as SSSI.

OS Grid reference: TL010233
 
Kensworth Chalk Pit, near Dunstable

Big active CEMEX chalk quarry sending chalk slurry to Rugby for cement making; a geological SSSI designated for Chalk Rock and covering most of Turonian and early Coniacian Stages; site not open to visitors except for publicly-accessible RIGS site and rock store managed by Beds & Luton Geology Group.

OS Grid reference: TL017198
 
Kidney Wood, Luton

Clay pits in ancient woodland with surviving mediaeval wood banks; designated as Kidney and Bull Woods County Wildlife Site.

OS Grid reference: TL097192
 
Lilley Hoo

Middle Chalk ridge with dry valleys, clay capping; chalk grassland Wildlife Trust reserve on Telegraph Hill; Icknield Way prehistoric road; Elizabethan pitch-pan beacon site on Telegraph Hill; part of Chilterns AONB, with walk leaflet ‘The Chalk Hills Walk’.

OS Grid reference: Telegraph Hill TL 117288
 
Pegsdon Hills, near Hexton

Steep Lower Chalk escarpment and dry valleys; Deacon Hill is a chalk grassland SSSI and Beds Wildlife Trust reserve; mediaeval cultivation terraces; part of Chilterns AONB, with walk leaflet.

OS Grid reference: Deacon Hill TL126298
 
Sewell Cutting, near Dunstable

Disused railway cutting in Lower Chalk; chalk grassland Wildlife Trust reserve.

OS Grid reference: TL000227
 
Sharpenhoe Clappers

Lower Chalk escarpment with dry valleys; chalk grassland; Iron Age promontory fort and mediaeval rabbit warren; owned by the National Trust; part of Sundon Hills Country Park and Chilterns AONB, with walk leaflet.

OS Grid reference: hillfort at TL065303
 
Sundon Chalk Quarry, near Luton

Former major chalk quarry and limeworks complex; SSSI including chalk grassland and other habitats rich in invertebrates.

OS Grid reference: circa TL042275
 
Sundon Hills Country Park

Lower Chalk escarpment indented with dry valleys; chalk grassland and beech & ash woodland SSSI; includes Sharpenhoe Clappers hill; owned by the National Trust; part of Chilterns AONB; link with John Bunyan Trail.

OS Grid reference: circa TL047286
 
Totternhoe Knolls, near Dunstable

Lower Chalk bluff in Totterhoe Stone stratum; chalk grassland SSSIs Totternhoe Knolls and nearby Totternhoe Chalk Quarry; Local Nature Reserve and Beds Wildlife Trust reserve; recent quarrying for cement, and historic quarrying of clunch e.g. for Westminster Abbey; Maiden Bower Iron Age hillfort; Norman motte & bailey castle.

OS Grid reference: Knolls SP978221; Quarry SP983223
 
Warden and Galley Hills, near Luton

Middle Chalk escarpment with dry valleys and clay-with-flints  capping; chalk grassland SSSI; Local nature Reserve; Bronze Age burial mounds and mediaeval gallows site; Drays Ditches Iron Age bank & ditch system; Icknield Way prehistoric road; golf course; walks leaflet.

OS Grid reference: Warden Hill TL091261; Galley Hill 270092
 


Museums in the project area with geological displays and specimens including Chalk fossils: