Parley Common is a

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 ...

(SSSI) on the edge of

Ferndown Ferndown is a town and civil parish in Dorset in southern England, immediately to the north of Bournemouth and Poole. The parish, which until 1972 was called ''Hampreston'', includes the communities of Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill and Trickett' ...

in Dorset, England. The majority land owner is the Canford Estate, but among the other owners are the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of Dorset (excepting the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, which fall within t ...

, Dorset County Council, East Dorset District Council and a few private individuals. Most of the site is managed by the

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) is a British wildlife charity formed in July 2009 by the Herpetological Conservation Trust The Herpetological Conservation Trust (HCT) was a British wildlife charity for the conservation of herpetofauna ...

(ARC); East Dorset Countryside Management Service manage the area owned by East Dorset District Council and Dorset Countryside manage the area owned by Dorset County Council. The site was notified as an SSSI in 1983. The area of the site is , and comprises a significant amount of heath; the northern and western parts are primarily of the dry heath ''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wid ...

'' and ''

Erica cinerea ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produ ...

'', while the low-lying parts of the south-east are mostly the damp or humid heath ''

Erica tetralix ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe ...

'' and ''

Molinia caerulea ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...

''. Rare heathland species include the sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis''), smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca''), heath grasshopper (''Chorthippus vagansand'') and the Dartford warbler (''Sylvia undata''). Parley Common has an abundance of spider fauna—at least 147 species—which includes the very rare '' Ero aphana'', '' Bassaniodes robustus'' (syn. ''Xysticus robustus'')—otherwise found in only a few places in the New Forest—and '' Gnaphosa lugubris''. The site holds claim to a number of firsts: the smooth snake was first recorded in Britain in Parley Common in 1853; the Mazarine blue (''Cyaniris semiargus'')—now extinct in Britain—was first discovered here in the late nineteenth century; the moth ''

Pachythelia villosella ''Pachythelia villosella'' is a moth of the Psychidae family. It is found in Europe. The wingspan is 13–15 mm for males. Head, thorax, and abdomen pale brownish-ochreous. Forewings and hindwings thinly haired, dark brown or grey brown; ve ...

'' and the ringed carpet moth (''

Cleora cinctaria ''Cleora cinctaria'', the ringed carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found from Europe to southern Siberia, Turkey, the Caucasus, central Asia and ...

'') were also first discovered here. The site is one of many areas in the South East Dorset in which grazing by cattle has been reintroduced, as part of efforts to control the growth of scrub.

Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

and illegal vehicle use have caused damage to the site, although community involvement is thought to have lessened the number of incidents.

References

External links

Dorset Heathlands
list published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
Dorset Nature Reserves
of the ARC.
Nature on the Map
by Natural England. * {{small, (631 KB) by

Poole Borough Council Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming administr ...

. Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1983 Heathland Sites of Special Scientific Interest

See also

References

External links