Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
![]() Thursley Common | |
Location | Surrey |
---|---|
Grid reference | SU 892 409 [1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 1,878.5 hectares (4,642 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1991 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons is a 1,878.5-hectare (4,642-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Godalming in Surrey. [1] [2] Thursley and Hankley Commons are Nature Conservation Review sites, Grade I. [3] An area of 115.1 hectares (284 acres) is a local nature reserve called The Flashes [4] [5] and an area of 180 hectares (440 acres) is the Elstead Group of Commons, a nature reserve managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. Thursley Common is a national nature reserve. [6] An area of 265.7 hectares (657 acres) is the Thursley & Ockley Bogs Ramsar site. [7] The site is a Special Protection Area [8] and part of the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation. [9] Part of the land area designated as Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons SSSI is owned by the Ministry of Defence (Hankley Common). [10]
This site is of national importance for its invertebrates, birds and reptiles, and is mainly heathland but the valley mire on Thursley Common is one of the best in the country. Orthoptera include the nationally rare large marsh grasshopper. The site is one of the richest in southern England for birds and of outstanding importance for reptiles, such as the nationally rare sand lizard. [11]
Martham Broad is a 60-hectare (150-acre) national nature reserve north of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and is part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.
Chobham Common is a 655.7-hectare (1,620-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chobham in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a national nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. It contains three scheduled monuments. Most of the site is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust as the Chobham Common nature reserve, but the SSSI also includes a small private reserve managed by the Trust, Gracious Pond.
Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) was founded in 1959 as Surrey Naturalists' Trust and it is one of forty-six wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. SWT carries out conservation activities on a considerable area of Surrey County Council's large countryside estate and also manages land on behalf of the Ministry of Defence estate. As of 2022 the SWT manages more than 6,000 hectares of land for wildlife and employs more than 100 staff. It had an income of £5.1 million and expenditure of £5.7 million.
Nene Washes is a 1,522-hectare (3,760-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the bank of the River Nene east of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area and a Nature Conservation Review site. An area of 280 hectares is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The total area of the Ramsar site is 1,517 hectares.
Hankley Common is a 560-hectare (1,400-acre) nature reserve and filming location in the south-west of Elstead in Surrey. The site is part of the Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site has woodland and lowland heath with heather and gorse. Birds include nightjars and Dartford warblers and there are other fauna such as adders and common lizards.
Ash to Brookwood Heaths is a 1,576.3-hectare (3,895-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Guildford in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. An area of 1,392 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
Colony Bog and Bagshot Heath is a 1,130.5-hectare (2,794-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Camberley and Woking in Surrey, England. Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. It includes Brentmoor Heath, a Local Nature Reserve which is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust
Thursley Common is a national nature reserve in Surrey, England, and has also been designated as a Ramsar wetland. It is also part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons.
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a 10,172.9-hectare (25,138-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from New Romney in Kent to Winchelsea in East Sussex. An area of 5,129.5 hectares is a Special Protection Area, an area of 3,141.1 hectares is a Special Area of Conservation, and an area of 6,377.6 hectares is a Ramsar Site, a wetland site designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Part of the site is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, parts are Geological Conservation Review sites, part is a Local Nature Reserve, and part is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve, and part is a National Nature Reserve.
Roydon Common is a 194.9-hectare (482-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of King's Lynn in Norfolk. It is also a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site, a National Nature Reserve and a Ramsar site. It is part of the Roydon Common and Dersingham Bog Special Area of Conservation and Roydon Common and Grimston Warren nature reserve, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust,
The Thames Basin Heaths are a natural region in southern England in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey, a slightly mottled east-west belt of ecologically recognised and protected land.
Thanet Coast is an 816.9-hectare (2,019-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the coast between Whitstable and Ramsgate in Kent. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and overlaps two Special Area of Conservations. It is also part of a Ramsar Site and a Special Protection Area. Part of it is a Local Nature Reserve,
Ludham - Potter Heigham Marshes is a 101.5-hectare (251-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. Part of the site is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a National Nature Reserve. It is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.
Bisley and West End Commons is a 37.2-hectare (92-acre) Local Nature Reserve west of Woking in Surrey. It is part of the 46-hectare (110-acre) Bisley & West End Commons and Reidon Hill nature reserve, which is owned by Surrey County Council and managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust. The site is also part of the Colony Bog and Bagshot Heath Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation and the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area,
Brentmoor Heath is a 28.6-hectare (71-acre) Local Nature Reserve east of Camberley in Surrey. It is part of Brentmoor Heath and Folly Bog nature reserve, the ownership of which is divided between the Ministry of Defence, Surrey County Council and Surrey Heath Borough Council, and is managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust. The site is also part of Colony Bog and Bagshot Heath site of Special Scientific Interest, Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation and Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.
The Flashes is a 115.1-hectare (284-acre) Local Nature Reserve west of Godalming in Surrey. It is owned by the National Trust and managed by Waverley Borough Council. It is part of Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation and Thursley, Hankley & Frensham Commons Special Protection Area,
Elstead Group of Commons is a 180-hectare (440-acre) nature reserve east of Elstead in Surrey. It is composed of Royal, Elstead and Ockley Commons, which are owned by the Ministry of Defence and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust, and Bagmoor Common, which is owned and managed by the Trust. The site is part of Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Lincegrove and Hackett's Marshes is a 37.8-hectare (93-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the west bank of the River Hamble between Southampton and Fareham in Hampshire. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. Hackett's Marsh is a 20.4 hectares Local Nature Reserve.