Bepton Down Conservation Group

Bepton Down SSSI is a unique area of chalk downland on The South Downs near the village of Bepton in West Sussex

Chalk grasslands have been likened to rainforests for the diversity of species they hold. But they are being lost at an alarming rate and it is estimated that the UK has lost about 80% of its chalk grassland over the last 60 years.

Bepton Down is a jewel in the crown. The habitat is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the area is a nationally rare example of unimproved chalk grassland. The Down is home to a wide range of plants and animals including six species of Orchid including the Early Purple, Common Spotted, Greater Butterfly, Pyramidal, Common Twayblade, Bee Orchids and White Helleborines.

The Bepton Down Conservation Group was set up in 2015 to help protect this Site of Special Scientific Interest and to encourage people to visit Bepton Down and enjoy this unique area of chalk downland.

Latest from the Bepton Down Blog

• RENEWAL
  Bepton Down is looking good under the grey skies. A blanket of mist that promises much for the spring of 2025. The SSSI has been properly looked after in the autumn of 2024. After being grazed by Sussex Cattle in the late summer the much anticipated cut and collect took place in October. This has […]
• ACCESS BLOCKED
  Fifty years ago the Access Path from the bridleway up to the gate on the edge of the SSSI was a wide leafy track which was a joy to behold as it had wildflowers and butterflies and thus held promise of the prize to come in the shape of the chalk downland meadow beyond. The […]
• April 2024
  Bepton Down SSSI is exploding into life at the moment. The joy of seeing so many cowslips covering large tracts of chalk downland is hard to describe. There are promises of more joys to come with the rosettes of the common spotted orchid emerging all over the place. The once common sight of the early […]
• Bepton: The tale of two schemes
  This area has been cleared until the brown bits. There is an old established Site of Special Scientific Interest on Bepton Down. It was one of the first to be granted this status way back in 1954. Since then it has gone through periods when sympathetic management enabled it to flourish and also darker times when, through […]
• BEPTON DOWN IN WINTER
  This photograph was taken in January and shows how useful livestock can be for the opening up of land for germination to take place thus allowing the spread of chalk downland specific plants which in turn benefit many insects some of which are now quite rare. It also shows the areas which needed to be […]
• The Glory of Bepton down
  It is with pleasure that I am able to report that several years of good management is, at last, bearing fruit. The present and previous Cowdray Farm Managers together with the livestock of one of the Estate’s tenant farmers as well as with the support of the South Downs National Park and Rural England have […]
• DOG PROBLEMS
  A view of the Downs at Bepton…. This is a peaceful scene with expectant ewes grazing in the fields …. Such scenes are deceptive and hide one of the commonest of problems encountered by Sheep Farmers throughout the U.K. This farmer hasn’t been spared either. The pandemic has brought more people out for walks and […]
• Dogs running Riot
  OWNERSHIP OF CANINE COMPANIONS COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY.   ALL DOG OWNERS SHOULD RECOGNISE THIS AND SHOULD ENSURE THAT THEIR DOGS ARE TRAINED. Due to Covid-19 many more people have been seen on Bepton Down.   The fact that more people are enjoying time outside is to be welcomed but people need to be mindful of the varying […]
• The woeful state of Bepton Down
• Winter Leisure for the Bepton Down Sussex Cattle
  The lovely Sussex Cattle which spent many months keeping most of tbe SSSI sward down (not the dogwood which they do not find to their liking)  are now spending quality time in the warm and dry.  They are ensconced with others from the Findon Park Herd with the Hodgkins at Linch in an airy barn […]