Hill Rise, Bedford

Hill Rise is a 0.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) located in the Harpur area of Bedford. It is owned and managed by Bedford Borough Council.^[1][2]

The site was the Bedfordshire Training Home for Girls, founded in 1882 to prepare poor girls for domestic service. This closed by the 1970s, and the land became a derelict dumping ground. In the 1990s local residents campaigned for the site to become an LNR, and this was achieved in 1996.^[3] The small site is surrounded on three sides by houses, but it has a variety of habitats, woodland, meadow, scrub and two ponds. Wildlife includes muntjac deer, foxes, birds, dragonflies and butterflies.^[1][4]

There is access from Park Road North.