nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
of the
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Staffordshire, England.
Organisation and activities
It is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts; each is a registered charity and is a member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. ...
, situated in the
Weaver Hills
The Weaver Hills are a small range of hills in north east Staffordshire, England.
The Weaver Hills are about east of Stoke-on-Trent and about west of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, just south of the A52 road and north of the Churnet Valley. The are ...
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, England. It 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 ...
.
Description
Its area is ; the terrain is steep in places."Thorswood" ''Staffordshire Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
There are hay meadows on low-lying ground, where
ox-eye daisy
''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (french: Marguerite commune, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions ...
,
knapweed
''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...
and
betony Betony is a common name for a plant which may refer to:
*''Stachys'', a genus of plants containing several species commonly known as betony in Europe
**'' Stachys officinalis'', a historically important medicinal plant
*''Pedicularis
''Pedicular ...
may be found with the tall grasses. On the
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
grassland of the higher ground, there are low-growing flowering plants including
salad burnet
''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has fe ...
wild thyme
''Thymus serpyllum'', known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to most of Europe and North Africa. It is ...
.
Instead of
intensive farming
Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...
practices, there is light grazing and traditional farming techniques, some fields being mown to make
hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
; the grazing and mowing prevents the grass becoming overgrown and smothering the rarer plants.
History and prehistory
There are three
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
bowl barrow
A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ke ...
s within the reserve; they are
scheduled monuments
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
Archaeology Data Service
The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is an open access digital archive for archaeological research outputs. It is located in The King's Manor, at the University of York. Originally intended to curate digital outputs from archaeological researchers ...
. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Lead mining, dating back to the 17th century, took place at Thorswood; the remains of this activity survive in parts of the reserve as extensive hillocks, up to high, and a number of shafts have been identified. The remains are a scheduled monument. Visitors to the reserve are advised to keep to the marked trails where indicated, in order to avoid mineshafts.