| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Thursley & Ockley Bog |
| Designated | 14 February 1994 |
| Reference no. | 647 [1] |
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.
Thursley Common is an area of some 350 hectares of heathland in the southwest of Surrey, England. It is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and as a National nature reserve. [2] Lying between the villages of Thursley and Elstead, the common is generally 2–300 feet above sea-level. The site consists of extensive areas of open dry heathland, with peat bogs, ponds, boggy pools and ditches, and both pine and deciduous woodland. There are sandy tracks and paths, and a "Heath trail" leads from the carpark around a circuit, with boardwalks in boggy areas and with a number of information boards. [3]
In a heatwave in 2006, an out-of-control wildfire burned 60% of the common, but by 2010 the heath was regenerating, with heather and gorse spreading across the charred ground. Forty-five pairs of Dartford warblers were recorded before the event, and six pairs in 2010. [4]
In 2020, another wildfire resulted in 150 hectares, about a third of the core reserve, being burnt. An estimated 200-300 animal and plant species have been affected. [5]
A subsequent 'Preserve Our Reserve' campaign has raised over £30,000 for initial clearance works, to promote early regeneration of the flora and fauna, for preservation projects to restore the habitat and providing information and future fire prevention. The funds are being managed by Elstead and Thursley Parish Councils who will liaise with Natural England over the projects. [6]
Thursley Common is one of the last remaining heathlands in Surrey. It is famed for its diverse wildlife. Whilst red crossbill, red kite, woodlark and European stonechat are regularly seen, birds such as Dartford warbler, whinchat, Northern wheatear, tree pipit and common redstart are frequently encountered. Rarer birds including osprey, black redstart and great grey shrike also visit the common. There are nationally important breeding populations of European nightjar and woodlark. The wetlands support several rare invertebrates, twenty species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded here, and there are six species of native reptile in the reserve. [7]
The Studland and Godlingston Heaths NNR is located on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It borders Studland Bay on the south side of Poole Harbour, between the settlements of Swanage and Sandbanks. Extending to 631ha, it is owned and managed by the National Trust following the Bankes bequest of the Kingston Lacy estate. Studland & Godlingston Heath is designated as one of only 35 "spotlight reserves" in England by Natural England in the list of national nature reserves in England and is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
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.
Elstead is a civil parish in Surrey, England with shops, houses and cottages spanning the north and south sides of the River Wey; development is concentrated on two roads that meet at a central green. It includes Pot Common its southern neighbourhood. Hamlets in the parish, marginally separated from the village centre, are Charleshill and Elstead Common, both rich in woodland. Elstead lies between Farnham and Godalming on the B3001 road about 2.2 miles (3.6 km) west of the A3 Milford interchange.
Thursley is a village and civil parish in southwest Surrey, west of the A3 between Milford and Hindhead. An associated hamlet is Bowlhead Green. To the east is Brook. In the south of the parish rises the Greensand Ridge, in this section reaching its escarpment near Punch Bowl Farm and the Devil's Punch Bowl, Hindhead.
Holt Heath is a 4.88 square kilometres (1.88 sq mi) common situated four miles north-east of Wimborne Minster in east Dorset, southern England, close to the village of Holt. The reserve includes dry and wet heathland, bog and ancient woodland. The common has several nature conservation designations: national nature reserve, Special Protection Area, Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is owned by the National Trust and managed in association with Natural England. The heath is one of the few places where all six native British reptile species occur, and it also supports many other heathland animals, plants and birds. Rare heathland birds such as Eurasian Hobby, nightjar, Dartford warbler and woodlark have been recorded as breeding on the reserve.
Hankley Common is a 560-hectare (1,400-acre) nature reserve and filming location in the south-west of Elstead in Surrey. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence. 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.
Muir of Dinnet is a national nature reserve (NNR) situated close to the village of Dinnet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The reserve extends 1166 hectares from the River Dee to Culbean hill, and encompasses a wide range of habitats including dry heath, raised bog, woodland, and two lochs: Loch Kinord and Loch Davan. Muir of Dinnet was first declared a NNR in 1977 due to its value as a habitat for flora and fauna, and its important geomorphological features, the most striking of which is the Burn O'Vat. Muir of Dinnet is owned by Dinnet Estate and managed by NatureScot, who provide a visitor centre and a range of other facilities including waymarked paths and a car park. As of 2012 it was estimated that approximately 40,000 people visited Muir of Dinnet each year.
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.
Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths is a 1,696.3-hectare (4,192-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Berkshire and Surrey that extend from a minority of the parish of Crowthorne including around Broadmoor Hospital in the west to Bagshot south-east, Bracknell north-east, and Sandhurst, south. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Two nature reserves which are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust are in the SSSI, Barossa nature reserve and Poors Allotment. Broadmoor Bottom, which is part of Wildmoor Heath, also falls within the SSSI; this reserve is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 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
Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve is a wildlife reserve on the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around the village of Walberswick to the south of the town of Southwold. The reserve was designated in 2003, combining the existing Walberswick National Nature Reserve with reserves at Dingle Marshes and Hen Reedbeds to create a 1,340 hectares reserve.
Hartland Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the south side of Poole Harbour near the town of Wareham in Dorset, England. It consists of lowland heathland.
Padworth Common Local Nature Reserve is a 28-hectare (69-acre) Local Nature Reserve on the edge of the hamlet of Padworth Common, between Reading and Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve (NNR) encompasses 430 hectares of land at the southeastern part of Loch Lomond in the council areas of Stirling and West Dunbartonshire, in Scotland. It covers the islands of Inchcailloch, Clairinsh, Torrinch, Creinch and Aber Isle, alongside areas of woodland and wetlands to either side of the mouth of the Endrick Water. NatureScot owns two parts of the reserve - the island of Inchcailloch and part of Gartfairn Wood - and the rest is privately owned. The reserve is managed by a partnership consisting of NatureScot, the RSPB Scotland and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, along with the owners and tenants of the land under agreements. Within this framework NatureScot directly manage the islands of Clairinsh, Inchcailloch, Torrinch and Creinch, and land to the north of the Endrick Water. The RSPB manages the area to the south of the Endrick Water, and the national park manages visitor facilities on Inchcailloch.
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. Thursley and Hankley Commons are Nature Conservation Review sites, Grade I. An area of 115.1 hectares is a local nature reserve called The Flashes and an area of 180 hectares is the Elstead Group of Commons, a nature reserve managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. Thursley Common is a national nature reserve. An area of 265.7 hectares is the Thursley & Ockley Bogs Ramsar site. The site is a Special Protection Area and part of the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright & Chobham Special Area of Conservation.
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.
Barossa is a 498-hectare (1,230-acre) nature reserve north of Camberley in Surrey. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths Site of Special Scientific Interest
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.
Ambersham Common is a 141.6-hectare (350-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Midhurst in West Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.
Tadnoll and Winfrith Heath is a nature reserve of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, near the village of Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset, England. There is heathland and wetland in the reserve.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Coordinates: 51°09′42″N0°42′30″W / 51.1616°N 0.7082°W
