Bentley Priory Nature Reserve

Nature reserve in the London Borough of Harrow, England

Bentley Priory
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Summerhouse Lake
Location	Greater London
Grid reference	TQ156927
Interest	Biological
Area	55.1 hectares
Notification	1990
Location map	Magic Map

Bentley Priory Nature Reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, surrounding the stately home of Bentley Priory. It is a 55 hectare mosaic of ancient woodland, unimproved neutral grassland, scrub, wetland, streams and an artificial lake, an unusual combination of habitats in Greater London.

History

Bentley Priory was an Augustinian priory of Canons in the Middle Ages, but it ceased to exist before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s. In 1775 Sir John Soane designed a new house which stood north of the original priory, also called Bentley Priory. Edgware Brook, a small stream which ran through the grounds, was dammed to form Summerhouse Lake, which was named after the lakeside gazebo of Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV, who spent the last years of her life there in the 1840s.

The grounds and house were separated when the house became RAF Bentley Priory, the headquarters of Fighter Command during the Second World War. The grounds are now maintained as a nature reserve by the Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, a sub-committee of the Harrow Heritage Trust.

The Reserve

The name Bentley is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word Beonet, a place covered in coarse grass, which remain a feature of much of the site today, which includes traditional grassland which has never been treated with fertilisers, and hence is rich in wild flowers. The dominant grasses are common bent, red fescue and Yorkshire Fog. Uncommon wild flowers include greater burnet, great burnet and spotted orchid. There are many birds including buzzard, spotted flycatcher, and bullfinch

Bentley Priory has a number of woods, including Heriot Wood. Its dominant tree is hornbeam, a species characteristic of ancient woodlands, and it probably dates back to the end of the last Ice Age, the Younger Dryas, 11,500 years ago. To the east is a private deer park.

The London Loop goes through Bentley Priory, There is access from Common Road, Priory Drive, Aylmer Drive, Embry Way, Old Lodge Way, Bentley Way and Masefield Avenue.

References

^ Natural England, Bentley Priory SSSI citation Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
"Bentley Priory". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 1 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
"Map of Bentley Priory". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
^ Harrow Heritage Trust, Bentley Priory Nature Reserve
Harrow Heritage Trust, Harrow Nature Conservation Forum
London Loop, Section 15, Hatch End to Elstree Archived 2011-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, Bentley Priory

External links

"Map of Bentley Priory". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England.
Harrow Heritage Trust, Bentley Priory Nature Reserve
Harrow Heritage Trust, Harrow Nature Conservation Forum
Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, Bentley Priory

v t e Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater London
Biological	Barn Elms Wetland Centre Bentley Priory Brent Reservoir Bushy Park Chingford Reservoirs Crofton Woods Croham Hurst Denham Lock Wood Downe Bank Epping Forest Farthing Downs Frays Farm Meadows Hainault Forest Hampstead Heath Woods Happy Valley Hayes Common High Elms Home Park Ingrebourne Marshes Inner Thames Marshes Kempton Park Reservoirs Keston Common Mid Colne Valley Old Park Wood Oxleas Woodlands Richmond Park Riddlesdown Ruislip Woods Ruxley Gravel Pits Saltbox Hill Syon Park Walthamstow Marshes Walthamstow Reservoirs Wimbledon Common
Geological	Abbey Wood Elmstead Pit Gilbert's Pit Harefield Pit Harrow Weald Hornchurch Cutting Wansunt Pit

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater London

Biological

Geological

v t e Local nature reserves in Greater London
Barking and Dagenham	Beam Valley Beam Valley (Environment Agency) Dagenham Village Churchyard Eastbrookend Country Park Mayesbrook Park South Parsloes Park Squatts Ripple Nature Reserve Scrattons Ecopark and extension The Chase - Barking
Barnet	Big Wood and Little Wood Brent Reservoir/Welsh Harp Coppett's Wood and Scrublands Glebelands Moat Mount Open Space Oak Hill Wood Rowley Green Common Scratchwood Totteridge Fields
Bexley	Crossness Danson Park Bog Garden, Welling Foots Cray Meadows Lesnes Abbey Woods
Brent	Brent Reservoir/Welsh Harp Fryent Country Park Masons Field
Bromley	High Elms Jubilee Country Park Scadbury Park
Camden	Adelaide Belsize Wood Camley Street Natural Park Westbere Copse
Croydon	Bramley Bank Foxley Wood Hutchinson's Bank Selsdon Wood South Norwood Country Park
Ealing	Blondin Park Fox Wood Grove Farm Gunnersbury Triangle Islip Manor Meadows Litten Long Wood Northolt Manor Perivale Wood
Enfield	Covert Way
Greenwich	Gilbert's Pit Maryon Park Maryon Wilson Park Oxleas/Shooters Hill Woodlands Sutcliffe Park The Tarn
Hackney	Abney Park Cemetery Springfield Park
Hammersmith and Fulham	Wormwood Scrubs
Haringey	Alexandra Park Coldfall Wood Parkland Walk Queen's Wood Railway Fields
Harrow	Bentley Priory Stanmore Common Stanmore Country Park
Havering	Bedford's Park Cranham Brickfields Cranham Marsh Ingrebourne Valley Rainham Marshes The Chase - Havering The Manor
Hillingdon	Denham Country Park Frays Valley Gutteridge Wood and Meadows (Yeading Woods) Ruislip Local Nature Reserve Ten Acre Wood Yeading Brook Meadows
Hounslow	Bedfont Lakes Country Park Chiswick Eyot Cranebank Duke's Hollow Gunnersbury Triangle Hounslow Heath Isleworth Ait Kempton Pevensey Road
Islington	Barnsbury Wood Gillespie Park Parkland Walk
Kingston upon Thames	Bonesgate Open Space Castle Hill Coombe Hill Wood Edith Gardens Elmbridge Open Space Ham Lands Hogsmill River Park Jubilee Wood Raeburn Open Space Rose Walk Southwood Open Space Tolworth Court Farm Fields The Wood and Richard Jefferies Bird Sanctuary
Lambeth	Streatham Common
Lewisham	Beckenham Place Park Brookmill Road Burnt Ash Pond Dacres Wood Downham Woodland Walk Grove Park Nature Reserve Sue Godfrey Nature Park
Merton	Bennett's Hole Cannon Hill Common Cherry Wood Cranmer Green Derwent Floodwash Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads Lower Wandle Merton Park Green Walks Morden Park Myrna Close Oakleigh Way Pyl Brook Ravensbury Park Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Wood Wandle Meadow Nature Park
Redbridge	Hainault Lodge
Richmond upon Thames	Barnes Common Crane Park Island Ham Common Ham Lands Lonsdale Road Reservoir (Leg of Mutton Reservoir) Oak Avenue, Hampton
Southwark	Dulwich Upper Wood Lavender Pond Nunhead Cemetery One Tree Hill Sydenham Hill Wood and Fern Bank
Sutton	Anton Crescent Wetland Belmont Pastures Cuddington Meadows Devonshire Avenue Nature Area Roundshaw Downs Ruffett and Big Woods Spencer Road Wetlands Sutton Ecology Centre Grounds The Spinney, Carshalton Wandle Valley Wetland Wilderness Island
Tower Hamlets	Ackroyd Drive Greenlink Mudchute Park and Farm Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
Waltham Forest	Ainslie Wood
Wandsworth	Battersea Park Nature Areas
Westminster	St. John's Wood Church Grounds

51°37′19″N 0°19′48″W / 51.622°N 0.330°W / 51.622; -0.330

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