Longleat Woods

Longleat Woods
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Location within Somerset
Area of Search	Somerset
Grid reference	ST795435
Coordinates	51°11′25″N 2°17′41″W / 51.19035°N 2.29472°W / 51.19035; -2.29472Coordinates: 51°11′25″N 2°17′41″W / 51.19035°N 2.29472°W / 51.19035; -2.29472
Interest	Biological
Area	249.9 hectares (2.499 km²; 0.965 sq mi)
Notification	1972 (1972)
Natural England website

Longleat Woods (grid reference ST795435) is a 249.9 hectare (617.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Frome in Somerset, notified in 1972.

This site includes the Ashen Copse Nature Conservation Review site. This site is a large, ancient, semi-natural, broadleaved woodland with a predominantly high forest structure which is unusual in South West Britain. Over the majority of the site, where soils are poorly drained but not waterlogged, the major canopy-forming tree is pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), with ash (Fraxinus excelsior) being locally common and distributed throughout. Hazel (Corylus avellana) is the commonest shrub and occurs throughout. A large number of plant species normally found only in ancient woodlands occur, including broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) and wood small-reed (Calamagrostis epigejos). The breeding bird community includes woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), tree pipit (Anthus trivialis), wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), buzzard (Buteo buteo), tawny owl (Strix aluco), greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) and European green woodpecker (Picus viridis). The breeding invertebrates include white admiral (Ladoga camilla), silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia) and small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene) butterflies and hornets (Vespa crabro). ^[1]

References

↑ "Longleat Woods" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2006-08-17.

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Aller and Beer Woods Aller Hill Asham Wood Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill Babcary Meadows Barle Valley Barrington Hill Meadows Berrow Dunes Black Down and Sampford Commons Brean Down Bridgwater Bay Briggins Moor Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors Chancellor's Farm Cheddar Complex Cheddar Reservoir Cheddar Wood Cleeve Hill Cogley Wood Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Curry and Hay Moors Deadman Draycott Sleights Dunster Park and Heathlands East Polden Grasslands Ebbor Gorge Edford Woods and Meadows Exmoor Coastal Heaths Fivehead Woods and Meadow Freshmoor Friar's Oven Ge-mare Farm Fields Great Breach and Copley Woods Grove Farm Hardington Moor Hestercombe House Holme Moor & Clean Moor King's Sedgemoor Kingdown and Middledown Kingweston Meadows Lang's Farm Langford Heathfield Langmead and Weston Level Long Lye Long Lye Meadow Longleat Woods Millwater Moorlinch Nettlecombe Park North Brewham Meadows North Curry Meadow North Exmoor North Moor Old Iron Works, Mells Perch Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh Postlebury Wood Priddy Pools Prior's Park & Adcombe Wood Quantock Hills Quants Ringdown River Barle Rodney Stoke Roebuck Meadows Ruttersleigh Severn Estuary Shapwick Heath Sharpham Moor Plot South Exmoor Southey and Gotleigh Moors Southlake Moor Sparkford Wood St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Stowell Meadow Street Heath Tealham and Tadham Moors Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Twinhills Woods and Meadows Vallis Vale Walton and Ivythorn Hills West Moor West Sedgemoor Westhay Heath Westhay Moor Wet Moor Whitevine Meadows Windsor Hill Marsh Wookey Hole Woolhayes Farm

Neighbouring areas Avon Devon Dorset Wiltshire

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