Staines Moor

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Staines Moor
Site of Special Scientific Interest
King George VI Staines and Queen Mary Reservoirs 2011 aerial.jpg
Staines Moor in foreground with King George VI and Staines reservoirs behind.
Location Surrey
Grid reference TQ 043 731 [1]
InterestBiological
Area510.8 hectares (1,262 acres) [1]
Notification 1984 [1]
Location map Magic Map

Staines Moor is a 510.8-hectare (1,262-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey. [1] [2] It is part of the South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site [3] and a Special Protection Area [4]

Contents

Description

A path across the moor Staines Moor - 20180731 125037 (43762908801).jpg
A path across the moor
The Colne and bulrushes River Colne on Staines Moor, with bullrushes - geograph.org.uk - 130011.jpg
The Colne and bulrushes

Staines Moor consists of alluvial flood meadows, the King George VI Reservoir, the Staines Reservoirs and a stretch of the River Colne. [5] Three of the six main distributaries of the River Colne run southward through it. The moor consists of rich alluvial soil on a bed of clay, a soil which is much more thick and naturally fertile compared with most of the patchy humus in the topsoil in the large historic parishes to the east such as Ashford, Stanwell, Harmondsworth, Bedfont and Feltham, which have thin, less moist humus on gravel-rich clay, formed by the ancient terraces of the Thames in the same way as the inland parts of the riverside parishes. As such rich pasture is the primary use of the land. Meads would be a more accurate term, as moor implies stony land or waste (infertile land). In the far south of the area mill mead was between two stream channels of the river, where the shopping centre Two Rivers has been built. [6]

The Staines Moor SSSI also includes King George VI Reservoir which is to the east. The reservoir carries nationally important wintering populations of tufted ducks, pochard, goosander and common goldeneye. The moor is separated from Wraysbury Reservoir to the west by the M25 and a footpath-accessible viaduct once used by the short-lived Staines and West Drayton Railway. [7]

History

The moor has been common land since 1065, and anyone owning grazing animals who registers with the local authority is entitled to graze stock on it. The traditional limit of livestock a person could leave to graze on the common was one horse and two cattle per head. Formerly the commoners were any people who lived in the parish of Staines, which since the mid-20th century has had three Church of England churches, whereas before the mid-19th century it had just one church. The part of the moor north of the A30 is indivisible from Stanwell Moor's remaining moor occupying most of that late 20th-century small village, which was before then a hamlet. [6] [8]

Its land covering 510.8 acres (2 km2) has been more than half turned to water by the King George VI Reservoir covering, including its banks, 350 acres (1.4 km2). Minor losses have taken belts of land on its western edge and in its southern third due to the M25 and A30 dual carriageway.

Open fields in the open field system by it were west of Moor Lane, today properties and smallholdings off Wraysbury Road. This area was subject to enclosure (privatisation) by 1649. Most of the Staines fields, however, by the church and in the south of the parish, remained worked as open fields until 1845. While these two periods of privatisation occurred, the moor itself has never been subject to an Act of Enclosure and is the only common remaining mostly green space in the borough. [6]

A rifle range was established in the 19th century and was moved to the Yeoveney land west of Moor Lane c.1891, but it was disused by 1933. [6]

See also

EnglandSurrey.png   Surreyportal

Related Research Articles

Staines-upon-Thames Town in Surrey, England

Staines-upon-Thames is a town on the left bank of the River Thames in Surrey, England, in the borough of Spelthorne. At or near the Roman settlement of Pontibus, it became Stanes and then Staines. Its borough is in the historic county of Middlesex and its two precursor districts were transferred to Surrey County Council in 1965.

Colnbrook Human settlement in England

Colnbrook is a village in the unitary authority of Slough in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the Colne, the Colne Brook and Wraysbury River. These two streams have their confluence just to the southeast of the village. Colnbrook is centred 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Slough town centre, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Windsor, and 18 miles (29 km) west of central London.

Wraysbury Human settlement in England

Wraysbury is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in England. It is under the western approach path of London Heathrow airport. It is located on the east bank of the River Thames, roughly midway between Windsor and Staines-upon-Thames, and 18 miles (29 km) west by south-west of London. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, Wraysbury was made part of the new non-metropolitan county of Berkshire in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. The Wraysbury Reservoir is located to the east, administratively wholly in the Spelthorne district of Surrey, although it was historically divided between Buckinghamshire and Middlesex.

Borough of Spelthorne Place in England

Spelthorne is a local government district and borough in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Staines-upon-Thames; other settlements in the area include Ashford, Sunbury-on-Thames, Shepperton, Stanwell and Laleham.

Ashford, Surrey Human settlement in England

Ashford is a town almost wholly in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, with a small area contained within the boundaries of the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately 14 mi (23 km) west-southwest of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point of the River Ash, a distributary of the River Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town's wards have been part of Surrey County Council since 1965. Ashford consists of relatively low density low- and medium-rise buildings, none of them being high rise. If excluding apartments most houses are semi-detached.

Stanwell Human settlement in England

Stanwell is a village close to two of the three main towns in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately 16 miles (26 km) west of central London. A small corner of its land is vital industrial land serving Heathrow Airport – most of the rest is residential/recreational and the housing ranges from suburban homes with gardens to low- to mid-rise urban apartment blocks. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, it has alongside the other parts of its present Borough been in Surrey since 1965. The village is to the south of the cargo-handling part of Heathrow Airport and to the east of the Staines Reservoirs.

River Ash, Surrey River in Surrey, England

The River Ash is a small, shallow river in Surrey, England. Its course of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) is just outside Greater London. Work has been carried out to re-align, clear, build up a small, Littleton head of water and create two backwaters. One backwater dates to the medieval period; the other to the 1990s decade. It flows as one of the six distributaries of the River Colne from the south of Staines Moor immediately south of the Staines Bypass eastwards through the rest of the borough of Spelthorne before meeting the River Thames.

Stanwell Moor Human settlement in England

Stanwell Moor is a village and moor in the Borough of Spelthorne, approximately 17 miles (27 km) west of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, it was transferred to Surrey in 1965. West of its generally narrow moor is the M25 London Orbital Motorway and the village is 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

Wraysbury Reservoir

Wraysbury Reservoir is a water supply reservoir for London, just west of the M25 near the village of Wraysbury, and directly under the western approach path of Heathrow Airport. The reservoir was begun in 1967 and completed by W. & C. French in 1970 with a capacity of 34,000 million litres.

Staines Reservoirs Storage reservoirs in the United Kingdom

The Staines Reservoirs are two large pumped storage reservoirs sitting to the east of the King George VI Reservoir near Heathrow airport in Surrey within the Colne Valley regional park. The village of Stanwell is mainly to the north east, and the town of Staines is to the south.

King George VI Reservoir

The King George VI Reservoir sits between Stanwell Moor and Staines upon Thames, south-west of Heathrow, England. It is between Staines Moor and a north–south road abutting the Staines Reservoirs. The reservoir was opened in November 1947 and named after the then reigning monarch George VI. It is owned by Thames Water.

Kempton Park Reservoirs

Kempton Park Reservoirs are a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the London Borough of Hounslow and Kempton Park in Surrey. It is owned by Thames Water. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and Special Protection Area Kempton Park East reservoir is also a local nature reserve.

The Colne Brook is a river in England that is a distributary of the River Colne which runs from Uxbridge Moor, there forming the western border of Greater London, to the River Thames just below Bell Weir Lock in Hythe End, Wraysbury, Berkshire.

Rye Meads

Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Rye House, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea, to the north-east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.

Mid Colne Valley

Mid Colne Valley is a 132 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon and Denham in South Buckinghamshire. Its main importance lies in its extensive diversity of birdlife in lakes in former gravel pits.

Moor Mill Quarry, West

Moor Mill Quarry, West is a 0.16 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in How Wood in Hertfordshire. The local planning authority is St Albans City and District Council. It was notified in 1992 as representing the former Moor Mill Quarry SSSI, which was lost to landfill operations. It is listed by the Geological Conservation Review.

Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit

Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit is a 58.0-hectare (143-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wraysbury in Berkshire. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site, and Special Protection Area. The lake has a surface area of 39.6 hectares(97.85 acres). The site has an area of 58.0-hectare (143-acre) and the lake 39.6-hectare (98-acre). The pit was excavated in the 1920s and 1930s with gravel being removed from the site. Over the years plants and wildlife have colonised the area and it is now mature.

Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits

Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits is a 117.2-hectare (290-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wraysbury in Berkshire. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.

Knight and Bessborough Reservoirs

Knight and Bessborough Reservoirs is a 63.4-hectare (157-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and Special Protection Area

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Designated Sites View: Staines Moor". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. "Map of Staines Moor". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. "Designated Sites View: South West London Waterbodies". Ramsar Site. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  4. "Designated Sites View: South West London Waterbodies". Special Protection Areas. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  5. "Staines Moor citation". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Susan Reynolds, ed. (1962). "Shepperton: The hundred of Spelthorne (continued)". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 29 December 2013. (map of Staines at the Victoria County History)
  7. Staines Moor circular walk (.pdf file) Colne Valley regional park
  8. Map of the parish of Staines today Official map by the Church of England Retrieved 2013-12-29

Coordinates: 51°27′00″N0°30′54″W / 51.45°N 0.515°W / 51.45; -0.515