Benfield Hill

About

Benfield Hill is an 11.8-hectare (29-acre) Local Nature Reserve (LNR) on the northern outskirts of Hove in East Sussex and is within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park. It is owned and managed by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Geography: The site lies between Brighton and Hove to the South and the Downs escarpment to the North. The Benfield Hill ridgeline itself runs between two dry valleys in the Upper and Middle Chalk. Wildlife of interest in the area include Glow-worms, Small Blue butterfly, Field fleawort and many other chalk grassland specialists. Two public rights of way run through the site: a public footpath crosses north-south over the brow and a bridleway runs along the bottom east slope.

History: Like the rest of the South Downs, Benfield Hill was used for sheep farming for 6000 years. The result was the creation of a hugely biodiverse chalk grassland, which biologist call a rainforest in miniature because of the forty or so different flowers that can be found in a square metre. Unfortunately, since the second world war most areas of the Downs are now intensively farmed and the rich wildlife these areas once supported has now gone. However, unlike...