Woldingham & Oxted Downs

Also within

Surrey County Surrey Hills Scenic Area North Downs Way National Trail

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Mixed scrub, Montane scrub

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Chalk

Description

Description Woldingham and Oxted Downs Site of Special Scientific Interest is situated to the south of the village of Woldingham and comprises a large area of downland on the scarp and dip slopes of the North Downs where these reach their greatest height in Surrey. The site includes rich chalk grassland, scrub and mature and secondary woodland supporting many species of characteristic plants and animals, a number of which are rare. Soils of the site are derived mostly from the underlying chalk except where plateau deposits overlie the chalk on the crest of the Downs. Chalk grassland has developed over hundreds of years of traditional grazing management and once covered most of the North Downs. It is now becoming severely reduced in area by modern agricultural, industrial and housing development and many remaining areas are becoming overgrown with scrub where grazing has ceased. This process has resulted in a loss of at least 71 percent of chalk grassland in Britain between 1934 and 1972. This site retains several large areas of rich chalk grassland, as well as many smaller areas now surrounded by scrub. Where the turf is grazed short by stockor rabbits, the sward is dominated by red and sheep's fescues Festuca rubra and Festuca ovina together with quaking grass Briza media, yellow oat grass Trisetum flavescens, purging flax Linum catharticum, bee orchid Ophrys apifera, thyme Thymus praecox, common centaury Centaurium erythraea, yellow wort Blackstonia perfoliata and early gentian Gentianella anglica, a plant found only in Britain. Where the sward is taller, it is dominated by upright brome Bromus erectus, wood false brome Brachypodium sylvaticum and tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum. Other plants include salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba, oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii and greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha, which grows in one of its largest Surrey colonies in the north east of the site. Scrub occurs throughout the site and is composed of hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, dogwood Cornus sanguinea, whitebeam Sorbus aria, wayfaring tree Viburnum lantana, wild privet Ligustrum vulgare and spindle Euonymus europaeus. The ground vegetation is composed of dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis with occasional twayblade orchid Neottia ovata. In many areas of the site scrub has developed further into secondary woodland. On Chaldon's Common the sandy acidic soil supports open oak Quercus robur and birch Betula pendula woodland, where the scarce blue pimpernel Anagallis arvensis ssp. foemina occurs. Elsewhere thin chalky soils support sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus, ash Fraxinus excelsior and hawthorn woodland with a ground vegetation of dog's mercury, bramble Rubus fruticosus and ivy Hedera helix. Some areas of woodland are more mature, such as great Church Wood, which is dominated by ash, oak and hazel Corylus avellana, with a rich groundlayer including bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta and the Surrey rarity herb paris Paris quadrifolia. Hanging Wood is dominated by ash and field maple Acer campestre and also has a rich flora including nettle leaved bell flower Campanula trachelium and sanicle Sanicula europaea, whilst a beech Fagus sylvatica hanger at Whistler's Steep supports the scarce plants stinking hellebore Helleborus foetidus and mezereon Daphne mezereum. The south facing slopes and sheltered patches of grassland surrounded by scrub support a rich invertebrate fauna. The rufous and stripe winged grasshoppers Gomphocerippus rufus and Stenobothrus lineatus, the Roman snail Helix pomatia and a hoverfly Microdon devius are among the rare species which occur here.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Plant communities