| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Leicestershire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SP 452 940 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 51.1 hectares [1] |
| Notification | 1983 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Burbage Wood and Aston Firs is a 51.1-hectare (126-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire. [1] [2]
These semi-natural woods on poorly drained soils are dominated by ash and oak. Hazel and hawthorn are common in the shrub layer, and there are flowers such as sweet woodruff and water avens. [3]
There is public access to Burbage Wood, but Aston Firs is private.
Burbage Wood is part of Burbage Common and Woods, an 85 hectare Local Nature Reserve. [4] [5] The nature reserve is owned by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council who manage it as a nature reserve and a public park. [6] The Common is unimproved heath-grassland and is historically common land. Such heathland was common in this area until land use changes in the 19th century. [7]
Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in Leicestershire, England. The council is based in Hinckley, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Earl Shilton and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The Bosworth in the borough's name refers to the small market town of Market Bosworth, near which the Battle of Bosworth Field was fought in 1485.
Burbage is a large village in the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth in Leicestershire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2021 the parish had a population of 16,510, an increase from 14,568 at the 2011 census.
Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 feet (180 m) and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km2). The highest point, Bardon Hill, is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway, between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest.
The Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the United Kingdom. It manages nature reserves in Leicestershire and Rutland, and was founded in 1956 as the Leicestershire and Rutland Trust for Nature Conservation. As of January 2018, it has over 16,000 members, a staff of about 25 and more than 500 volunteers. It is based in Leicester, and is managed by a Council of Trustees which is elected by the members. It is a charity which covers all aspects of nature conservation, and works to protect wild places and wildlife.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly 810 hectares north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon. It has over 21,000 members, and is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK. It is a Registered Charity, with its Registered Office in St Albans, and had an income in the year to 31 March 2014 of over £1.5 million.
Charnwood Lodge is a 134.2-hectare (332-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Charnwood Forest, east of Coalville in Leicestershire. It is a national nature reserve, and contains two Geological Conservation Review sites. It is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Dimminsdale is a 37 hectare geological biological and Site of Special Scientific Interest partly in Derbyshire and partly in Leicestershire. It is located east of Calke in Derbyshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and a area of 23.5 hectares is owned by Severn Trent Water and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Launde Big Wood is a 41.1 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Leicester. It is part of Launde Woods nature reserve, which is owned by the Leicester Diocesan Board of Finance and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Loughborough Meadows is a 60.5 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Loughborough in Leicestershire, England. An area of 35.3 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Muston Meadows is an 8.8-hectare (22-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Muston in Leicestershire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site.
Cribb's Meadow is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) nature reserve east of Wymondham in Leicestershire. It is owned and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, and is designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest under the name Cribb's Lodge Meadows. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.
Great Merrible Wood is a 12 hectare nature reserve east of Hallaton in Leicestershire. It is owned and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, and is part of the Eye Brook Valley Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry is a 63.3 hectares biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Worthington in Leicestershire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. An area of 33 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Wymondham Rough is a 6.0 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) east of Stapleford in Leicestershire. The SSSI is part of the 12.5 hectare Wymondham Rough nature reserve, which is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Ulverscroft Valley is a 110.8-hectare (274-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Markfield in Leicestershire. The site is in five separate blocks, and two areas are nature reserves managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT). Lea Meadows is owned by the LRWT and it is also a scheduled monument. Part of Ulverscroft Nature Reserve is owned by the LRWT and part is owned by the National Trust and leased to the LRWT.
