Chedworth Nature Reserve
Fuller information may be found in the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook.
This is a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve situated on the South side of the Coln Valley and midway between the villages of Chedworth and Withington and next to the Roman Villa owned by the National Trust. The reserve is a section of the disused Cheltenham to Cirencester railway line. The track bed includes both cuttings and embankments. The Trust purchased the reserve in 1969, the line having been closed in 1961. The reserve takes the form of a woodland ride, with expanses of beech woods on either side of the railway line bed. The reserve in 1800 yds long passing through ancient woodland until it reaches the closed Chedworth tunnel. The reserve passes through Chedworth Woods, the second largest woodland block in the Cotswolds.
Chedworth is of interest to geologists and biologists. The cuttings show a geological sequence in the Bajocian stage of the Middle Jurrassic period (about 180 million years ago). Fossils can be found in the limestone scree at the base of the cuttings.
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