Greenham and Crookham Commons
Greenham and Crookham Commons is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of Newbury in Berkshire. The SSSI is in several areas and it is part of the Greenham and Crookham Commons nature reserve, which is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
In the 1980s Greenham Common was a military base storing nuclear weapons and the location of the Women's Peace Camp, but following the closure of the base it was opened to the public as a nature reserve in 2000. The two commons have the largest area of heathland and acid grassland in the county and other habitats are gorse scrub, broad leaved woodland and water-logged alder valleys. There is a rich variety of invertebrates, such as the white admiral, purple emperor and silver-washed fritillary woodland butterflies.
