Castle Bottom is a British national nature reserve located near

Yateley Yateley () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. It lies in the north-eastern corner of Hart District Council area. It includes the settlements of Frogmore and Darby Green to the east. It had a population of 21,011 at ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. It is part of Castle Bottom to Yateley and Hawley Commons, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Thames Basin Heaths

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

for the conservation of wild birds

Geography

The nature reserve is situated south-west of Yateley and is on the north-west border of

Blackbushe Airport Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...

. The reserve is a small lowland site of around , containing two valley

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

s, with

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

land and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

habitats. Each of the valley mires has an acidic stream running through them.

History

There is evidence that the area was used by humans as far back as 1800 to 550 BC, with discovery of some ancient burial mounds. There is evidence of banks being built in the Western Mire, but it is not possible to date exactly when they were built The land was owned by the Bramshill estate until 1952, when it was sold. The land was last owned by a manufacturer of quarry equipment before the council purchased the site. In the early 20th century two cottages were built on the north border of the reserve. Used until the 1960s, they are now ruins.

Fauna

The nature reserve has the following

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

Mammals

Exmoor pony The Exmoor pony is one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds native to the British Isles. Some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor has been given "P ...

European water vole The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep br ...

European badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stab ...

Common noctule The common noctule (''Nyctalus noctula'') is a species of insectivorous bat common throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Description The common noctule's short fur is dark brown after moulting in June (males) or July/August (females); lat ...

Common pipistrelle The common pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus pipistrellus'') is a small pipistrelle microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and may extend into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the Brit ...

Birds

Invertebrates

Reptiles, amphibians and other vertebrates

Grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recognized ...

*''

Vipera berus ''Vipera berus'', the common European adderMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . or common European viper,Stidworthy J. (1974). ...

'' *

Viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning ...

*'' Anguis fragilis'' *

Common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...

Common toad The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in ...

* Brown trout

Fungi

*''

Morchella elata ''Morchella elata'' is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae. It is one of many related species commonly known as black morels, and until 2012 the name ''M. elata'' was broadly applied to black morels throughout the globe. Like most ...

'' *''

Typhula quisquiliaris ''Typhula quisquiliaris'', commonly known as the bracken club, is a species of club fungus in the family Typhulaceae. It produces small, white fruit bodies up to in height, each with a single distinct "head" and "stem". The head is fertile, w ...

'' *''

Inonotus radiatus ''Inonotus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae. The genus, described by Petter Karsten in 1879, is estimated to contain about 80 species ''sensu lato'' and 30 species ''sensu stricto'' (in the strict sense). The name comes from ...

'' *''

Schizophyllum commune ''Schizophyllum commune'' is a species of fungus in the genus ''Schizophyllum''. The mushroom resembles undulating waves of tightly packed corals or loose Chinese fan. "Gillies" or "split gills" vary from creamy yellow to pale white in colour. Th ...

'' *'' Tricholoma cingulatum'' *'' Panellus serotinus'' *''

Lactarius pubescens ''Lactarius pubescens'', commonly known as the downy milk cap, is a species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. It is a medium to large agaric with a creamy-buff, hairy cap, whitish gills and short stout stem. The fungus has a cosmopolitan ...

'' *'' Leccinum holopus'' *''

Tremella foliacea ''Phaeotremella foliacea'' (synonym ''Tremella foliacea'') is a species of fungus in the family Phaeotremellaceae. It produces brownish, frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and is parasitic on the mycelium of '' Stereum sanguinolent ...

'' *'' Pisolithus arhizus''

Flora

The nature reserve has the following

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

Trees

* Conifer *

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

Silver Birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

Herbaceous plants

References

External links

Castle Bottom National Nature reserve
{{coord, 51.330, -0.857, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:2000, display=title Nature reserves in Hampshire National nature reserves in England