Sheepleas
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
| File:Cowslip Meadow, Sheepleas.jpg Cowslip Meadow | |
| Location | Surrey |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ 089 516[1] |
| Interest | Biological Geological |
| Area | 99.9 hectares (247 acres)[1] |
| Notification | 1986[1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Sheepleas is a 99.9-hectare (247-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Guildford in Surrey.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site[3] and a Local Nature Reserve.[4][5] It is owned by Surrey County Council and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.[6]
History
[edit | edit source]The sheepleas was a long-standing area sheep grazing area[6] ('lēah' being an Old English term for pasture).[7] In 1915, it was included as one of 284 nature reserves on the Rothschild List.[8] Part of the sheepleas Surrey County Council bought in 1936 and a further area in the 1950s.[9]
Geography
[edit | edit source]This sloping site on the North Downs has woodland, scrub and botanically rich grassland. The diverse invertebrate fauna includes two nationally rare flies, Norellia spinipes and Microdon devius. A cutting in Mountain Wood exposes a unique gravel Pleistocene deposit which throws light on the Quaternary history of the Weald and the evolution of the London Basin.[10]
The site is open to the public.
References
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