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]
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 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 |
History
editThe 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
editThis 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
edit- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Sheepleas". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "Map of Sheepleas". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "Mountain Wood (Quaternary of South-East England)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "Designated Sites View: Sheepleas". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ "Map of Sheepleas". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Sheepleas". Surrey Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ "Definition of LEA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "The Rothschild List: 1915-2015 A review 100 years on" (PDF). The Wildlife Trusts. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ "Sheepleas; Visitor Guide and Self-guided Trails" (PDF). data.wildlifetrusts.org. Surrey County Council.
- ^ "Sheepleas citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
