| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Area of Search | Suffolk |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL 710 790 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 11.6 hectares [1] |
| Notification | 1983 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Wilde Street Meadow is an 11.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Lakenheath and Mildenhall in Suffolk. [1] [2]
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I".
Lakenheath is a village in Suffolk, England. It has a population of 4,691 according to the 2011 Census, and is situated in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk, close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and at the meeting point of The Fens and the Breckland natural environments.
Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The town is near the A11 and is located 37 mi (60 km) north-west of Ipswich, the county town. The large Royal Air Force station, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF Lakenheath, are located north of the town. The former is used by the United States Air Force, as the headquarters of its 100th Air Refueling Wing and 352nd Special Operations Group.
This site has a long history of traditional management, with low intensity summer grazing. It has areas of species-rich calcareous grassland, damp pasture, scrub and dykes. There is a large population of green-winged orchids. [3]
Calcareous is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
The site is private land with no public access.
