Sheepleas
Protected area in Surrey, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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][7]
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Cowslip Meadow | |
 Location of Sheepleas. | |
| Area of search | Surrey |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ 089 516[1] |
| Interest | Biological Geological |
| Area | 99.9 hectares (247 acres)[1] |
| Notification date | 1986[1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
History
The sheepleas was a long-standing area sheep grazing area[6] ('lēah' being an Old English term for pasture).[8] In 1915, it was included as one of 284 nature reserves on the Rothschild List.[9] Part of the sheepleas Surrey County Council bought in 1936 and a further area in the 1950s.[10]
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.[11]
The site is open to the public.
