Blaisdon Hall () is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Blaisdon Blaisdon is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of Gloucestershire, England, about ten miles west of Gloucester. Its population in 2005 was estimated by Gloucestershire County Council to be 249. An estimate in 2012 placed the populat ...

. It includes a

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 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 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, notified in 1995.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
Blaisdon Hall supports a breeding roost of Lesser horseshoe bats which consists of one fifth of the known Gloucestershire breeding population, and has been deemed by Natural England to be of national importance. The site comprises part of the roof void, roof tiles, roof timbers, the flanking walls of the Hall and the nearby workshop.

Pipistrelle ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian language, Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the ge ...

bats and

Brown long-eared bat The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was on ...

s also are recorded using the Hall.

History

The hall was built in 1876 by William Crawshay. It was extended in 1907 by P. Stubbs. In 1935 it was sold and turned into an agricultural school.

Architecture

The two-storey

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James' reign there ...

stone building has slate roofs. At the rear are two projecting wings with a courtyard between them. On the right of the front is a four-storey tower with a porte-cochere.

Location and habitat

The site is one of a series of Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

and

Wye Valley The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; cy, Dyffryn Gwy) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. The River Wye ( cy, Afon Gwy) is the fourth-longest river in th ...

(Gloucestershire and

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

). These sites support (between them) breeding and hibernation roosts for

Lesser Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...

and

Greater horseshoe bat The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an insectivorous bat of the genus '' Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe an ...

s. This is of European importance. Other sites in the group in Gloucestershire (all of which are SSSIs) include the breeding sites of Caerwood And Ashberry Goose House, Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar and

Sylvan House Barn Sylvan House Barn () is a stone built barn near the village of St Briavels, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Because of its breeding bats, the site was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1995. Sylvan House ...

. Hibernation sites include

Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel Buckshaft Mine & Bradley Hill Railway Tunnel ( and ) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1998.Devil's Chapel Scowles Devil's Chapel Scowles () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified England, in 1998. The site lies in the Forest of Dean and has four units of assessment by Natural England. Scowles Scowle is the a ...

, Old Bow And Old Ham Mines and Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine. The

and

are one of the main locations for Lesser horseshoe bats because of the deciduous woodlands and, sheltered valleys, which provide a good feeding area, and the underground systems which provide roosting and breeding sites. The citations for the series of sites provide common information. Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Bat Sites/ Safleoedd Ystlumod Dyffryn Gwy a Fforest y Ddena are recognised as a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.

Conservation

Natural England reports (unit of assessment report 2011) that the numbers of Lesser horseshoe bats remained the same as at citation (by chance). This was 187 (8 August 2011 count). Roof spaces were not accessed and considered to be inaccessible without causing structural damage and damage to the roost.Natural England SSSI information on the Blaisdon Hall unit
/ref>

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Blaisdon Hall unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) {{SSSIs Gloucs biological Bat roosts Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1995 Forest of Dean Blaisdon Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire