Old Bow and Old Ham Mines

Old Bow And Old Ham Mines
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Shown within Gloucestershire
Area of Search	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO579088
Coordinates	51°46′36″N 2°36′39″W / 51.776729°N 2.610882°W / 51.776729; -2.610882Coordinates: 51°46′36″N 2°36′39″W / 51.776729°N 2.610882°W / 51.776729; -2.610882
Interest	Biological
Area	40.3 hectare
Notification	1998
Natural England website

Example - Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros)

Example - Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)

Old Bow And Old Ham Mines (grid reference SO579088) is a 40.3-hectare (100-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1998.^[1]^[2]

Location and habitat

The mines comprise one of a series of Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley (Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire). These sites support (between them) important breeding and hibernation roosts for Lesser and Greater horseshoe bats. This is of European importance.

Other sites in the group in Gloucestershire (all of which are SSSIs) include the breeding sites of Blaisdon Hall, Caerwood And Ashberry Goose House, Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar and Sylvan House Barn. Hibernation sites include Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel, Devil's Chapel Scowles, Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine and Wigpool Ironstone Mine.^[1]

A ring of iron-ore bearing Carboniferous Limestone in the Forest of Dean provides the focus of ancient and recent mines. These provide excellent hibernation sites for bats and the Old Bow and Old Ham mines are made up of a far-reaching area of underground workings. These are on the west side of the Forest of Dean and are near Clearwell.

The notified site includes parts of four mine complexes being Clearwell, Old Bow, Lambsquay and Old Ham. There are inter-connections. There are entrances at the grilled (and padlocked where necessary) shafts at the edge of the outcrop. The length of the tunnels and workings is estimated to be some 30 kilometres.^[1]

The deciduous woodlands and sheltered valleys of the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley provide a good feeding area. There are three units of assessment and unit 2 and unit 3 are woodland shelter areas on the western side.^[1]

The citations for the series of sites provide common information.

Bat Species

The site is mostly used by Lesser Horseshoe bats, but a small number of Greater Horseshoe bats also use the site. It is recorded as regularly holding over 300 Lesser Horseshoe bats. Other recorded bat species which use the site for hiberation are Daubenton's Bat, Brandt's Bat, Natterer's Bat, Whiskered Bat and the Long-eared Bat.^[1]

The Horseshoe bats hibernate in the caves and tunnels in the winter months and move between various parts of the mine complexes in spring and autumn. Thus they are able to locate a suitable microclimate (temperature and humidity). This is a prime site because of the size and depth.^[1]

Clearwell caves

Commercial and recreational use continues in part of the Clearwell Cave system. There are 'show' caves with stalactites. Crystal formations of haematite, dolomite and calcite occur. Natural pigments such as ochre are mined by the mineral gale owner along with small quantities of iron ore and rock samples.^[1]

Image gallery

Example - Daubenton's Bat (Myotis daubentoni)
Example - Brandt's Bat (Myotis brandtii)
Example - Natterer's Bat (Myotis nattereri)
Example - Whiskered Bat (Myotis mystacinus)
Example - Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus)

References

SSSI Source

External links

	Lesser horseshoe bat recorded on a heterodyne bat detector set to 107 KHz
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	Daubenton's bat recorded on a heterodyne bat detector set to 40 KHz
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Natural England (SSSI information)

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows

Neighbouring areas Avon Hereford and Worcester Oxfordshire Wiltshire

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