Gamlingay Cinques Common
Coordinates: 52°09′39″N 0°12′32″W / 52.16074°N 0.208869°W
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  Gamlingay Cinques Common Gamlingay Cinques Common shown within Cambridgeshire | |
| OS grid reference | TL226529 |
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Gamlingay Cinques Common, sometimes just called Gamlingay Cinques,[1] is a registered village green (39) and a small acid grassland nature reserve and County Wildlife Site[2] located just north-west of the village of Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. Managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, the 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) site is one of the surviving remnants of the once expansive Gamlingay Great Heath (another being the close by Gamlingay Meadows), a heathland once visited by famous British naturalist Charles Darwin as a university student.[3] The site is open to the public, has both car parking and disabled access facilities, and is a popular site for local walkers,[4] as its dry sandy soil provides a habitat for numerous species of flowering plants.[1]
County Wildlife Site
Uncommonly for sites in Cambridgeshire, Gamlingay Cinques Common is on sandy, dry soil, and provides a habitat for lots of different plants, especially acid-loving ones.[1][4] Acid grassland is a scare habitat in Cambridgeshire, and remaining sites tend to be fragmented and isolated;[2] flora at Gamlingay Cinques Common has been categorized as U1 (Calcifugous grasslands and montane communities) under the National Vegetation Classification, a locally rare community.[2] Species present at the site include broom (Cytisus scoparius), gorse (Ulex europaeus), Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), lesser spearwort (Ranunculus flammula), Slender St. John's wort (Hypericum pulchrum, a plant once common on the former Great Heath) and remnant stands of heather (Calluna vulgaris).[1][2][4] Grass snakes (Natrix natrix) can also be found at the site.[4]
Management work at Gamlingay Cinques Common is undertaken by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire to preserve the delicate grassland habitat, as woodland and scrub will naturally encroach grassland habitats and destroy them if not kept in check. Scrubby oak and gorse trees are removed to reclaim the grassland areas, rare breeds of sheep and cattle graze or the grass is cut in late summer, paths are cut and willow trees are coppiced.[1][4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Gamlingay Cinques". Nature reserves. Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "ACID GRASSLAND AND HEATHLAND LOCAL HABITAT ACTION PLAN FOR CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND PETERBOROUGH". Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Biodiversity Action Plan. December 2008. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ↑ Niemann, Derek (11 September 2010). "Country diary: Gamlingay Great Heath". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Cambridgeshire Nature Reserves". Where to see wildlife in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire. Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. p. 70. ISBN 9781874357391.