| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
A visitor near a wooded area of the reserve |
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Shown within West Sussex
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| Area of Search | West Sussex |
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| Grid reference | SU822107 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 209.4 ha (517 acres) |
| Notification | 1952 |
| Natural England website | |
The Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve is a National Nature Reserve (NNR) near Chichester, West Sussex in southern England, and is part of the South Downs. It covers an area of 160 hectares[1]. It is part of the wider Site of Special Scientific Interest Kingley Vale.[2]
The site is managed by Natural England. It has an information centre and a nature trail.[3] There is a large area of grass downland and shrub land with a number of old yew trees. From the top there are outstanding views over Sussex and the south coast.
There are a number of walks and bridleways around the NNR with the main being around the woodland and yew trees and up to the top of the hills.
The nearest car park is at West Stoke about five miles northwest of Chichester, [4] and there are footpaths leading up from the village of Stoughton.
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Kingley Vale is home to one of Europe's most impressive yew forests. The forest contains yews as much as 2,000 years old. They comprise some of the oldest living organisms in Great Britain.[5] Their survival is remarkable because most ancient yew trees across Europe were felled prior to the 14th Century, being the preferred material for the staves of English longbows.
Besides the yew forest, one can find oak, ash, holly and hawthorn. The chalk grassland is home to a great number of flowers and herbs that form a diverse and intricate mosaic of species. Over 50 species of birds are found, although only six species breed in the yew woodland. Mammals include deer, yellow-necked mouse, water shrew and dormouse. The 39 species of butterfly at Kingley Vale are mainly found in the grassland.[6]
Kingley Vale has a rich and diverse heritage with remains of a Roman Temple[7], Iron Age settlement site known as Goosehill Camp[8], the Devil's Humps Bronze Age round barrows and prehistoric flint mines. Further to these sites there are a number of unidentifed archaeological remains in the form of linear earthworks, a rectangular enclosure known as Bow Hill Camp and evidence of settlement at the base of the hill[9].