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Lower Woods () is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a site. The site is a nature reserve managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Lower Woods are the most extensive area of ancient woodlands and seminatural woodland in the former county of Avon and now in South Gloucestershire. It is one of the largest ancient woodlands in the south-west of England and covers some three square kilometres. There are three waymarked trails and over sixty miles of paths, rides and wide grassy 'trenches' (ancient roads).〔2011, 'Nature Reserves Guide', Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, issued to celebrate its 50th Anniversary〕 This large reserve is made up of twenty-three woods and coppices, the boundaries of which have remained unchanged for several centuries. The woods are linked by a network of grass trenches and ridges. The Little Avon River runs through the centre of the site. The woods are situated in the damp clay soils of the Vale of Berkeley and are made up of the distinct woodlands as well as grassland areas.〔Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al, 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'〕 The site is adjacent to Yarley Meadows which is also an SSSI. ==Geology== The site contains significant exposures of clays, shales, limestones and bone-beds (''Rhaetic'' time period). These would have been laid down some 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. The exposures in this area have been a source of research for some 150 years, notably the units called the Westbury Beds, the Cotham Beds and the ''Liostrea'' Beds. The site has two horizons of Landscape marble and outcrops of conglomeratic bone-beds (in the Westbury shales). The latter contain a significant amount of fossil fish, and sedimentological features.〔(Natural England SSSI information on the citation )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lower Woods」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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