Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment

Last updated

Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Headley Heath - geograph.org.uk - 1396316.jpg
Headley Heath
Location Surrey
Grid reference TQ 194 526 [1]
InterestBiological
Geological
Area1,016.4 hectares (2,512 acres) [1]
Notification 1986 [1]
Location map Magic Map

Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment is a 1,016.4-hectare (2,512-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Reigate in Surrey. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site [3] and a Special Area of Conservation. [4] Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. [5] Two small private nature reserves in the site are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust, Dawcombe [6] and Fraser Down. [7]

This eight mile long site on the North Downs contains an outstanding range of wildlife habitats, including large areas of woodland and chalk grassland. Mole Gap has a variety of Quaternary landforms and there are well developed river cliffs where alluvial fans have diverted the River Mole against the valley sides. [8] Some of the chalk grassland is CG2 sheep's fescue - meadow oatgrass community, which is one of the most species-rich types of grazing pasture found in Britain, [9] [10] but the SAC is also designated for CG3, CG4, CG5 and CG6 grassland types. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Designated Sites View: Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "Map of Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "The Mole Gap (Quaternary of South-East England)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  4. ↑ "Designated Sites View: Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment". Special Areas of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 117–18. ISBN   0521 21403 3.
  6. ↑ "Dawcombe". Surrey Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Fraser Down". Surrey Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Kathryn Killner (18 July 2025). Juniper Hill Kingswood Surrey NVC Survey July 2025.
  10. ↑ Rodwell, J.S. (1992). British Plant Communities, vol. 3: Grasslands and montane communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-39166-0.
  11. ↑ "Dry grasslands and scrublands on chalk or limestone (Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies: on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia), ( note that this includes the priority feature "important orchid rich sites"). ) - Special Areas of Conservation". sac.jncc.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2026.

51°15′36″N0°17′24″W / 51.260°N 0.290°W / 51.260; -0.290

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.