Chawridge Bourne is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire, England Part of the site is a nature reserve called Chawridge Bank, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Etymology
The name Chawridge is first attested in a charter of 942, which includes the Old English phrase "on ceawan hrycges hagan" ("to the enclosure of ceawa's ridge").Margaret Gelling, The Place-Names of Berkshire, English Place-Name Society, 49–51, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973–76), I 37. The word here was long thought to be a personal name attested only here and in the place-names Chacombe, Chaureth and East and West Challow, in which case Chawridge meant "the ridge belonging to Ceawa".Richard Coates, 'On Some Controversy Surrounding Gewissae / Gewissei, Cerdic and Ceawlin', Nomina, 13 (1989–90), 1–11.John Insley, 'Britons and Anglo-Saxons', in Kulturelle Integration und Personennamen im Mittelalter, ed. by Wolfgang Haubrichs, Christa Jochum-Godglück (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), §4. In the 2020s, it was suggested that Old English had a word or , meaning "jackdaw", in which case Chawridge could have meant "jackdaw ridge". As well as appearing in Chawridge Bourne, the name also appears in the neighbouring sites of Chawridge Manor Farm, Charriage Lane, Chawridge Mead, and Chawridge Gorse.
Ecology
This linear site is named after the stream called Chawridge Bourne, which runs through it. Half of it is unimproved grassland, which is managed by sheep grazing. There are also areas of scrub and broadleaved woodland. On the east side there is an ancient parish boundary hedge which has diverse tree flora.
Fauna
The site has the following animals
Mammals
Micromys minutus
Birds Alauda Great spotted woodpecker Eurasian blackcap Lesser whitethroat
Invertebrates Polyommatus icarus Erynnis tages Pyrgus malvae
Flora
The site has the following flora:
Trees Crataegus monogyna Prunus spinosa Fraxinus Maple Quercus robur Malus sylvestris Sorbus torminalis
Plants Arrhenatherum elatius Holcus lanatus Dactylis glomerata Deschampsia cespitosa Festuca rubra Achillea ptarmica Genista tinctoria Hordeum secalinum Ophioglossum vulgatum Primula veris Silaum silaus Senecio erucifolius Carex pallescens Potentilla anglica Succisa pratensis Ranunculus auricomus Phyllitis scolopendrium Polystichum setiferum Centaurea nigra Leontodon taraxacoides
References