{{Short description|Protected area in Hertfordshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox SSSI |image=Aldbury Nowers.jpg |name=Aldbury Nowers |aos=[[Hertfordshire]] |interest=Biological |gridref={{gbmappingsmall|SP952135}} |area={{convert|19.7|ha|acre}} |notifydate=1990 |map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271005932%27 ''Magic Map''] }}
'''Aldbury Nowers''' is a {{convert|19.7|ha|acre}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] (SSSI) in the [[Chiltern Hills]], north-east of [[Tring]] in [[Hertfordshire]]. The site was [[SSSI notification|notified]] in 1990 under the [[Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981]].<ref name="Naturalengland">{{cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1005932.pdf|title=Aldbury Nowers - 1005932|website=naturalengland.org.uk |publisher=Natural England |accessdate=7 January 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271005932%27|title=Map of Aldbury Nowers|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England| accessdate= 7 December 2014 }}</ref> It is managed by the [[Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust]].
The site, formerly known as "Duchie's Piece," comprises two areas of hillside, linked by [[The Ridgeway]]. The calcareous meadow element of the site hosts the flowers of [[chalk grassland]] and has butterfly habitats with thirty-four different species of butterfly recently recorded, including the [[Hamearis lucina|Duke of Burgundy]], [[Theclinae|hairstreaks]] and the [[Essex skipper]]. The site also includes a "[[Fagus sylvatica|beech]] hanger", a type of upland [[ancient woodland]], and is considered one of the best examples of this feature in Hertfordshire.<ref name="Naturalengland"/><ref name="AldburyNowers">{{cite web|url=http://www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/NatureReserves/Local/aldburynowers|title=Aldbury Nowers|publisher=Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust|access-date=2011-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723234311/http://www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/NatureReserves/Local/aldburynowers|archive-date=2011-07-23|url-status=dead|df=}}</ref>
Archaeological features on the site are two sections of [[Grim's Ditch (Chilterns)|Grim's Ditch]],<ref name="Naturalengland"/> part of a {{convert|30|km|mi|adj=on}} linear earthwork thought to originate in the [[Iron Age]], and two [[bowl barrow]]s, from either the [[Late Neolithic]] or the [[Bronze Age]] periods.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1018209 |desc=Bowl barrow in Aldbury Nowers Wood |accessdate=7 January 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1015592 |desc=Bowl barrow in Turlhanger's Wood |accessdate=7 January 2018 }}</ref>
Northwest of the village of [[Aldbury]], it adjoins the [[Pitstone Hill]] SSSI in [[Buckinghamshire]] and provides views over the [[Tring#Geography|Tring Gap]] and [[Vale of Aylesbury]].<ref name="Naturalengland"/><ref name="AldburyNowers"/>
The site is always open and there is access by a footpath from Northfield Road.<ref name="AldburyNowers"/>
==See also== *[[List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Hertfordshire]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{coord|51.811569|-0.618893|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SP952135)|display=title}} {{SSSIs Hertfordshire}} {{Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Hertfordshire]] [[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1990]] [[Category:Chiltern Hills]] [[Category:Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust reserves]] [[Category:Dacorum]] [[Category:Late Neolithic]]