Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Somerset
Location	Somerset
Grid reference	ST270210
Coordinates	50.9837°N 3.0413°W / 50.9837; -3.0413
Interest	Biological
Area	26.7 hectares (0.267 km^2; 0.103 sq mi)
Notification	1963 (1963)
Natural England website

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands (grid reference ST270210) is a 26.7 hectare (65.8 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Stoke St Mary in Somerset, notified in 1963. Part of the land designated as Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Site of Special Scientific Interest is owned by the Crown Estate.^[1]

Thurlbear Wood is a species-rich woodland, formerly managed in a traditional coppice-with-standards system and situated on soils derived from Rhaetic shales and limestones. It is managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. The recorded history of the site, its Medieval embankments and the presence of several plants normally confined to primary woods, all suggest that Thurlbear is of considerable antiquity. The woodland has been used for educational and research work for more than 60 years. The 'quarrylands' are an area of calcareous grassland, and scrub occupying 19th-century workings in Lias limestone. Over 80 species of flowering plant occur. There is an outstanding butterfly fauna, with 29 species recorded. Breeding birds associated with the site include buzzard (Buteo buteo), nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), and grasshopper warbler (Locustella naevia).^[2]

References

1. "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
2. "Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 21 August 2006.

External links

• "Thurlbear Wood". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 21 August 2006.