Blaxhall Common is a

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 ...

in the parish of

Blaxhall Blaxhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. Located around south-west of Leiston and Aldeburgh, in 2007 its population was estimated to be 220, measured at 194 in the 2011 Census.

in the

East Suffolk District East Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England, which was established on 1 April 2019, following the merger of the existing Suffolk Coastal and Waveney districts. At the 2011 census, the two districts had a combined population o ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

. The reserve is owned by Blaxhall Parish Council and managed by

Suffolk Wildlife Trust Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in ...

. It is designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Blaxhall Heath. It is part of the Sandlings

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 cert ...

under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and of the

Suffolk Coast and Heaths The Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Suffolk and Essex, England. The AONB covers ancient woodland, commercial forestry, the estuaries of the Alde, Blyth, Deben, Orwell and Stour rivers, farmland, sal ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of th ...

. A

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 ...

is a

Scheduled Monument 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 ...

Location

The site is located on the Suffolk Sandlings, an area of sandy soil and glacial geology stretching along the Suffolk coast from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

.Suffolk's lovely sandlings
''Suffolk'', East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 2013-01-28 The traditional land cover was lowland dry

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat (ecology), 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 B ...

, but much of this landscape has been destroyed with isolated areas, such as at Blaxhall, surviving.Blaxhall Heath
, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-28.Sandlings heaths and forests
, Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2013-01-28. The site is bordered to three sides by the Sandlings Forest SSSI. Blaxhall Common is around east of Blaxhall and south-west of

Snape Snape may refer to: Places * Snape Island, Hudson Bay, Canada * Snape, North Yorkshire, a village in England * Snape, Suffolk, a marshland, a village and an arts center in England People * Andrew Snape (1675–1742), headmaster of Eton College ...

on the B1069 road between Snape and Tunstall. It is south-west of

Leiston Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a po ...

and north-east of Woodbridge. It falls on the edge of the

(AONB).

Plant and wildlife

The heath is mainly heathers with a mosaic of heather and acidic grassland habitats. The Silver-studded blue butterfly was reintroduced at the site in 2007.Suffolk Wildlife Trust's silver-studded blue butterfly
BBC news website, 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2013-01-28. Bird species present include

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tal ...

woodlark The woodlark or wood lark (''Lullula arborea'') is the only extant species in the lark genus ''Lullula''. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non- migratory) ...

and

tree pipit The tree pipit (''Anthus trivialis'') is a small passerine bird which breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic as far East as the East Siberian Mountains. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to Africa and southern Asia. The sc ...

with reptiles such as the

common 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 it ...

and adder ''

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). ...

'' established on the site. There are also colonies of

solitary bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the super ...

s and ant-lions.Blaxhall Heath - Unit 1
/ref> The heath is managed through seasonal cutting of vegetation, especially invasive species, in order to maintain a variety of habitats.

Hebridean sheep The Hebridean is a breed of small black sheep from Scotland, similar to other members of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, having a short, triangular tail. They often have two pairs of horns. They were often formerly known as "St ...

and

Exmoor ponies 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 give ...

have also been introduced at the site in order to assist management. A car park is maintained by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust to allow access to the reserve.

Archaeology

An ancient boundary bank forms the southern edge of the site and is well preserved and the northern area of the heath is the site of a

standing around tall. The barrow is a

scheduled ancient monument 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 ...

. The common includes a number of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

sites as well as a wide

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

anti-glider ditch. This provides habitats for solitary bees and lizards.

References

{{reflist Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk

Location

Plant and wildlife

Archaeology

See also

References