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

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

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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 "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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