Minchinhampton Common () is a

biological and geological 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 ...

Minchinhampton Minchinhampton is a Cotswold Hills, Cotswolds market town and a civil parish in the Stroud District of Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of Stroud. The common offers wide views over the Severn Est ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, notified in 1972.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The common has been owned and managed by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

since 1913. It is one of the largest grassland commons in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the be ...

area. It is south of Rodborough Common SSSI. Both commons are on

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and are a central plateau with steep sides. They drop down to the

Nailsworth Nailsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds, on the A46 road, south of Stroud and about north-east of Bristol and Bat ...

Valley on the west side and the

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

Valley on the north side. The site designation includes the outlying areas of Iron Mills and Littleworth Commons. Neu-Lindsey Nature Reserve adjoins the western edge of Minchinhampton Common. Minchinhampton Common is of both geological and biological importance. There are disused quarries near the centre which provide fossil evidence for research purposes. It is unimproved, ''herb-rich'' grassland. There are five units of assessment. The limestone Longstone of Minchinhampton is supposedly the burial site of a Danish leader, and the area on the east side of the common known as Woefuldane Bottom has been suggested as a possible site of the

Battle of Edington The Battle of Edington or Battle of Ethandun was fought in May 878 between the West Saxon army of King Alfred the Great and the Great Heathen Army led by the Danish warlord Guthrum. The battle took place near Edington, Wiltshire, Edington in ...

. The Old Lodge, a former hunting lodge, stands at the centre of the common.

History

There was a wood on the Common during the 1300s. In 1739, Anglican preacher,

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke Coll ...

delivered a sermon to 30,000 people. The Neolithic burial mound on the Common is known as ''Whitfield's Tump'' was named after him. Those who own property within Minchinhampton Manor today, still have

grazing rights Grazing rights is the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area. United States Grazing rights have never been codified in United States law, because such common-law rights derive from the English concept of the ...

on the Common, as was custom in the

open-field system The open-field system was the prevalent Agriculture in the Middle Ages, agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each Manorialism, manor or village had two or thre ...

before

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

Geology

The quarries are one of the most important Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) research sites in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The fossil Limestones provide examples of various marine species including

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

and

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

fauna including

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, ...

s and thick-shelled

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

crustacea Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

ns, and

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s. The site provides opportunities for significant further research on the local rock strata of the Minchinhampton and Burleigh limestones, and the relationship to the Bathonian successions to the east and south.

Biology

Flora

The central plateau supports a short grassland sward (due to stock grazing) with longer vegetation on the steeper slopes. The grassland includes

upright brome ''Bromus erectus'', commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to . Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The specific epithet ''erectus'' is Latin, meaning "erect". ...

tor-grass ''Brachypodium pinnatum'', the heath false brome or tor-grass, is a species of grass with a widespread distribution in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It typically grows in calcareous grassland, and reaches tall. The flowerhead is ...

sheep's fescue ''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla''). General description It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...

, quaking grass, and

crested dog's-tail ''Cynosurus cristatus'', the crested dog's-tail, is a short-lived perennial grass in the family Poaceae, characterised by a seed head that is flat on one side. It typically grows in species rich grassland. It thrives in a variety of soil types ...

. Flowering herbs include

common rock-rose ''Helianthemum nummularium'' (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is borde ...

harebell ''Campanula rotundifolia'', the common harebell, Scottish bluebell, or bluebell of Scotland, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This herbaceous perennial is found throughout the temperate regions of the northe ...

chalk milkwort ''Polygala calcarea'', the chalk milkwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Polygalaceae, native plant, native to western Europe. It is a delicate mat-forming evergreen perennial plant, perennial growing to tall by ...

, and

field scabious ''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Description It is a perennial plant that grows between . It prefers grassy places and dry ...

. The area has a significant population of orchids, including the bee orchid,

fragrant orchid ''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe. Etymology The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from Ancient Greek, G ...

, and

frog orchid ''Dactylorhiza viridis'', the frog orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It has also been treated as the only species ''Coeloglossum viride'' of the monotypic genus ''Coeloglossum''. Description The plant ari ...

. There are more neutral grasslands and herb species in areas of landslip on the margins of the site. There are wet areas which support

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

y vegetation. There are also areas of scrub which is dominated by hawthorn,

bramble ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. I ...

, and

dog rose ''Rosa canina'', the dog rose, is a variable climbing, wild rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. Description The dog rose is a deciduous shrub normally ranging in height from , though it can scramble higher into the ...

. There is

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

on the site and a limited amount of broad-leaved woodland on the margins.

Fauna

The site is known for its variety of invertebrates and butterflies recorded are

chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

small blue The small blue (''Cupido minimus'') is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the fem ...

marsh fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval st ...

and Duke of Burgundy fritillary. Moth records include

cistus forester ''Cistus'' (from the Greek ''kistos'') is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species (Ellul ''et al.'' 2002). They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean regio ...

and juniper carpet. The rare

greater horseshoe bat The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an Insectivore, 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 i ...

is recorded as hibernating in the disused stone mines on the Nailsworth side.

Usage

There is a golf club and course. The grass is used to graze cattle in the warmer months, this is administered by the "hayward". Because of the cattle roaming free, there is a speed limit of 40 mph in the area. Part of the common was used to house a US military field hospitalArmy Camps & Barracks in Gloucestershire
/ref> during WW2.

Gallery

Image:Woodchester village - geograph.org.uk - 38441.jpg, Looking west from Minchinhampton Common Image:Minchinhampton Common, near Minchinhampton - geograph.org.uk - 930988.jpg, Minchinhampton Common Image:Minchinhampton Common and some cattle, near Minchinhampton - geograph.org.uk - 931032.jpg, Cattle on Minchinhampton Common Image:Hazards on the road - geograph.org.uk - 225224.jpg, Road systems on Minchinhampton Common Image:Minchinhampton Common, beware of cows - geograph.org.uk - 225219.jpg, Road systems on Minchinhampton Common Image:Part of the road network, Minchinhampton Common, near Minchinhampton - geograph.org.uk - 930998.jpg, Road network on Minchinhampton Common Image:Tom Long's Post - geograph.org.uk - 225226.jpg, Directional post on Minchinhampton Common

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Minchinhampton units

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information)
National Trust

Stroud Oral History Archive (filtered for Minch Common)

Drone photo of entire common on Google Maps
{{SSSIs Gloucs geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1972 Cotswolds