Whiteleaf Hill
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: SP824036
Whiteleaf Hill occupies a prominent position on the Chilterns escarpment above Princes Risborough and is crossed by many rights of way including the Ridgeway National Trail. The site is owned and managed by Buckinghamshire County Council's Countryside Service and has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve.
More information on the site can be found at: www.buckscc.gov.uk
View the site map on Nature on the Map.
Geological Interest
Whiteleaf Hill is a long, wedge shaped ridge of high ground extending from the main Chilterns escarpment to the south, out into the flatter Aylesbury Vale to the north. Whiteleaf is part of the once continuous Upper Cretaceous Chalk scarp of the Chilterns, which stands above the wetter and softer soils of the Vale of Aylesbury to the north.
An exposure of Middle and Upper Chalk with occasional fossiliferous flint nodules (in situ) can be seen in the small derelict roadside chalk pit to the south west of Whiteleaf Cross. This pit is protected as a Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site (RIGS). The chalk is also in evidence on the surface of Whiteleaf Cross, itself a designated RIGS site.
