Sheepleas

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]

Sheepleas
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Cowslip Meadow
LocationSurrey
Grid referenceTQ 089 516[1]
InterestBiological
Geological
Area99.9 hectares (247 acres)[1]
Notification1986[1]
Location mapMagic Map

History

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

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
  1. "Designated Sites View: Sheepleas". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. "Map of Sheepleas". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  3. "Mountain Wood (Quaternary of South-East England)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  4. "Designated Sites View: Sheepleas". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. "Map of Sheepleas". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  6. "Sheepleas". Surrey Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  7. "Definition of LEA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  8. "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.
  9. "Sheepleas; Visitor Guide and Self-guided Trails" (PDF). data.wildlifetrusts.org. Surrey County Council.
  10. "Sheepleas citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
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