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49-450: Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill is a 332.2 hectare (820.9 acre) geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the western end of the Mendip Hills , Somerset . The line of hills runs for approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from west to east and includes: Crook Peak , Compton Hill , Wavering Down , Cross Plain and Shute Shelve Hill . Most of the site

98-661: A dash ; for example, 1-21-00.26 ha would mean 1 hectare, 21 ares, and 0.26 centiares (12,100.26 m ). The metric system of measurement was first given a legal basis in 1795 by the French Revolutionary government. The law of 18 Germinal, Year III (7 April 1795) defined five units of measure: In 1960, when the metric system was updated as the International System of Units (SI), the are did not receive international recognition. The International Committee for Weights and Measures ( CIPM ) makes no mention of

147-404: A double prefix is non-standard. The decimilliare is (100 mm) or roughly a four-inch-by-four-inch square. The centiare is one square metre. The deciare (rarely used) is ten square metres. The are ( / ɑːr / or / ɛər / ) is a unit of area, equal to 100 square metres ( 10 m × 10 m ), used for measuring land area. It was defined by older forms of the metric system , but

196-439: A few other units including the are (and implicitly the hectare ) whose use was limited to the measurement of land. The names centiare , deciare , decare and hectare are derived by adding the standard metric prefixes to the original base unit of area, the are . The decimilliare (dma, sometimes seen in cadastre area evaluation of real estate plots) is 1 ⁄ 10,000 are or one square decimetre. Such usage of

245-512: A landmark and boundary from very early times, and the origins of the name are unclear. The local parish council state that 'Crook' comes from the Old English 'Cruc' meaning 'peak' or 'pointed hill'. 'Shute' is a contraction of schute which meant slope in the Middle Ages . The ecology of the site is varied. There are ancient and secondary semi-natural broadleaved woodland ; however, the majority

294-542: A measure of land area. The names of the older land measures of similar size are usually used, redefined as exactly one decare: The most commonly used units are in bold . One hectare is also equivalent to: The Unicode character U+33CA ㏊ SQUARE HA , in the CJK Compatibility block, is intended for compatibility with pre-existing East Asian character codes. It is not intended for use in alphabetic contexts. U+3336 ㌶ SQUARE HEKUTAARU

343-454: A mere 3,090 square kilometres (760,000 acres), representing less than 20% of the total wooded area. More than eight out of ten ancient woodland sites in England and Wales are less than 200,000 square metres (49 acres) in area. Only 617 exceed 1 square kilometre (250 acres), which is a relatively small number. Forty-six of these sites exceed 3 square kilometres (740 acres). Most ancient woodland in

392-428: A plantation structure, characterized by even-aged crops of one or two species planted for commercial purposes. Many of these ancient woodlands were transformed into conifer plantations as a consequence of felling operations conducted during wartime. While PAWS sites may not possess the same high ecological value as ASNW, they often contain remnants of semi-natural species where shading has been less intense. This allows for

441-536: A polished flint axe . It was used as the site of a beacon at the time of the Spanish Armada . A ridge to the south east of Crook Peak, known as 'The Razor', is used by the West Mendip Soaring Association to fly model aircraft when the wind is a south-westerly, southerly or north-easterly direction. Compton Hill is above the village of Compton Bishop . Also within the parish of Compton Bishop

490-489: A type of ecological indicator . The term is more frequently applied to desiccation -sensitive plant species, and particularly lichens and bryophytes , than to animals. This is due to the slower rate at which they colonise planted woodlands, which makes them more reliable indicators of ancient woodland sites. Sequences of pollen analysis can also serve as indicators of forest continuity. Lists of ancient woodland indicator species among vascular plants were developed by

539-426: Is " old-growth forest ". Ancient woodland is formally defined on maps by Natural England and equivalent bodies. Mapping of ancient woodland has been undertaken in different ways and at different times, resulting in a variable quality and availability of data across regions, although there are some efforts to standardise and update it. A variety of indirect legal protections exist for many ancient woodlands, but it

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588-501: Is Wavering Down which reaches a height of 210 metres (690 ft), and is marked with a triangulation station . Around the small village of Cross is Wavering Down House which was, for the last 20 years of his life, the home of the British comedian Frankie Howerd . The house is now a tourist attraction , and in the summer hosts concerts and opens regularly as a museum of Howerd's collection of memorabilia to raise fund for charities. Above

637-651: Is a combination of ヘクタール ( hekutāru ), the Japanese translation of "hectare". Ancient woodland In the United Kingdom , ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England , Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland ). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 is likely to have developed naturally. In most ancient woods,

686-480: Is composed of native tree species that have not obviously been planted. Many of these woods also exhibit features characteristic of ancient woodland, including the presence of wildlife and structures of archaeological interest. Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) are defined as ancient woodland sites where the native species have been partially or wholly replaced with a non-locally native species (usually but not exclusively conifers). These woodlands typically exhibit

735-486: Is indicative of their significant value to early communities as a source of fuel and, moreover, as a source of food for farm animals. The boundaries are frequently described in terms of features such as large trees, streams or tracks, and even standing stones for example. Ancient woodland sites over 2 hectares (5 acres) in size are recorded in Ancient Woodland Inventories, compiled in the 1980s and 1990s by

784-484: Is largely formed by more resistant Carboniferous Limestone laid down in the Dinantian period about 350 million years ago. The hill rises to 233 metres (764 ft) above sea levels and represents a ridge formed by the southern Limb of a highly eroded anticline with younger limestones on the lower slopes. Black Rock Limestone is exposed at several sites but is commonly covered by Burrington Oolite . Picken's Hole at

833-410: Is no formal method for reclassifying restored PAWS as ASNW, although some woodland managers now use the acronym RPAWS (Restored Planted Ancient Woodland) for a restored site. Species which are particularly characteristic of ancient woodland sites are called ancient woodland indicator species, such as bluebells , ramsons , wood anemone , yellow archangel and primrose for example, representing

882-409: Is not automatically the case that any given ancient woodland is protected. Some examples of ancient woodland are nationally or locally designated, for example as Sites of Special Scientific Interest . Others lack such designations. Ancient woodlands also require special consideration when they are affected by planning applications. The National Planning Policy Framework , published in 2012, represents

931-451: Is now outside the modern International System of Units (SI). It is still commonly used in speech to measure real estate, in particular in Indonesia, India, and in various European countries. In Russian and some other languages of the former Soviet Union , the are is called sotka (Russian: сотка : 'a hundred', i.e. 100 m or 1 ⁄ 100 hectare). It is used to describe

980-500: Is on the northern slopes of Crook Peak, is run by the Bristol Children's Help Society, which was founded in 1884 to help needy children. The centre provided residential activity courses. The facilities include classrooms, a sports hall, outdoor pool, playing field and bunkhouse accommodation. Hectare In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as 100 square metres , or one square decametre , and

1029-601: Is owned by the National Trust , which bought 725 acres (293 ha) in 1985, and much of it has been designated as common land . It was notified as an SSSI by Natural England in 1952. The ecology of the area includes ancient woodland and calcareous grassland which supports nationally rare species including the Cheddar pink . The underlying rocks are Carboniferous Limestone containing phreatic caves at Shute Shelve Cavern and Picken's Hole from which fossils dating from

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1078-490: Is unimproved calcareous grassland with calcareous grassland and acidic dry dwarf-shrub heath. Four of the calcareous grassland communities and two of the woodland types have a restricted distribution in Britain, as does the calcareous grassland/acidic dry dwarf-shrub heath. These support species, four of which are considered nationally rare, while seven of the plant species present are considered notable. Plants of interest include

1127-615: The Middle Devensian have been recovered. The site extends for some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from west to east. Near its eastern end it is divided by a gap used by the A38 road and the disused Cheddar Valley railway line . At the western end of the hills, closest to the M5 motorway , is Crook Peak which reaches 191 metres (627 ft), and forms a prominent feature from the surrounding landscape. Evidence of early human occupation of Crook Peak includes

1176-514: The Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England ) for each region of England, with each list containing the hundred most reliable indicators for that region. The methodology entailed the study of plants from known woodland sites, with an analysis of their occurrence patterns to determine which species were most indicative of sites from before 1600. In England this resulted in the first national Ancient Woodland Inventory, produced in

1225-631: The Nature Conservancy Council in England, Wales, and Scotland; and maintained by its successor organisations in those countries. There was no inventory in Northern Ireland until the Woodland Trust completed one in 2006. Britain's ancient woodland cover has diminished considerably over time. Since the 1930s almost half of the ancient broadleaved woodland in England and Wales have been planted with conifers or cleared for agricultural use. The remaining ancient semi-natural woodlands in Britain cover

1274-618: The are in the 2019 edition of the SI brochure, but classifies the hectare as a "Non-SI unit accepted for use with the International System of Units". In 1972, the European Economic Community (EEC) passed directive 71/354/EEC, which catalogued the units of measure that might be used within the Community. The units that were catalogued replicated the recommendations of the CGPM, supplemented by

1323-434: The 1980s. Although ancient woodland indicator species can and do occur in post-1600 woodlands and also in non-woodland sites such as hedgerows , it is uncommon for a site which is not ancient woodland to host a double-figure indicator species total. More recent methodologies also supplement these field observations and ecological measurements with historical data from maps and local records, which were not fully assessed in

1372-479: The British government's policy document pertaining to planning decisions affecting ancient woodlands. The irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is elucidated in paragraph 118 of the NPPF, which states: ‘Planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including ancient woodland and the loss of aged or veteran trees found outside ancient woodland, unless

1421-458: The SI, being equivalent to a square hectometre. It is widely used throughout the world for the measurement of large areas of land, and it is the legal unit of measure in domains concerned with land ownership, planning, and management , including law ( land deeds ), agriculture, forestry , and town planning throughout the European Union , New Zealand and Australia (since 1970). However,

1470-452: The UK has been managed in some way by humans for hundreds (in some cases probably thousands) of years. Two traditional techniques are coppicing (the practice of harvesting wood by cutting trees back to ground level) and pollarding (harvesting wood at approximately human head height to prevent new shoots being eaten by grazing species such as deer). Both techniques encourage new growth while allowing

1519-996: The United Kingdom, the United States, Myanmar (Burma), and to some extent Canada, use the acre instead of the hectare for measuring surface or land area. Some countries that underwent a general conversion from traditional measurements to metric measurements (e.g. Canada) required a resurvey when units of measure in legal descriptions relating to land were converted to metric units. Others, such as South Africa, published conversion factors which were to be used particularly "when preparing consolidation diagrams by compilation". In many countries, metrification redefined or clarified existing measures in terms of metric units. The following legacy units of area have been redefined as being equal to one hectare: In Mexico, land area measurements are commonly given as combinations of hectares, ares, and centiares. These are commonly written separated by

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1568-470: The cave. Faunal deposits of spotted hyena , lion , Arctic fox , mammoth , woolly rhinoceros , horse , reindeer , suslik and northern vole ( Microtus oeconomus ) from approximately 35,000 BP have also been recovered. Shute Shelve Cavern is located on Shute Shelve Hill. It is a natural cave system which was mined for its yellow ochre , until the 1920s. The phreatic cave contains fossils of speleothems over 350,000 years old. Barton Camp, which

1617-431: The complete uprooting of trees within the woodland of the afforested area. Ancient woods were well-defined, often being surrounded by a bank and ditch, which allowed them to be more easily recognised. The bank may also support a living fence of hawthorn or blackthorn to prevent livestock or deer from entering the area. Since they are attracted by young shoots on coppice stools as a food source, they must be excluded if

1666-439: The conditions prevailing on these sites are much more suitable than those on other sites. Ancient woodland in the UK, like rainforest in the tropics, serves as a refuge for rare and endangered species. Consequently, ancient woodlands are frequently described as an irreplaceable resource, or 'critical natural capital '. The analogous term used in the United States, Canada and Australia (for woodlands that do contain very old trees)

1715-496: The coppice is to regenerate. Such indicators can still be observed in many ancient woodlands, and large forests are often subdivided into woods and coppices with banks and ditches as was the case in the past. The hedges at the margins are often overgrown and may have spread laterally due to the neglect of many years. Many ancient woods are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, as well as in the earlier Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . This

1764-506: The dekare/decare daa (1,000 m ) and are (100 m ) are not officially "accepted for use", they are still used in some contexts. The hectare ( / ˈ h ɛ k t ɛər , - t ɑː r / ), although not a unit of SI, is the only named unit of area that is accepted for use with SI units . The name was coined in French, from the Latin ārea . In practice the hectare is fully derived from

1813-430: The gradual restoration of more semi-natural structures through gradual thinning is often possible. Since the ecological and historical values of ancient woodland were recognized, PAWS restoration has been a priority amongst many woodland owners and governmental and non-governmental agencies. Various grant schemes have also supported this endeavor. Some restored PAWS sites are now practically indistinguishable from ASNW. There

1862-469: The hectare (" hecto- " + "are") was thus 100 ares or 1 ⁄ 100  km (10,000 square metres). When the metric system was further rationalised in 1960, resulting in the International System of Units ( SI ), the are was not included as a recognised unit. The hectare, however, remains as a non-SI unit accepted for use with the SI and whose use is "expected to continue indefinitely". Though

1911-425: The nationally rare Cheddar pink ( Dianthus gratianopolitanus ), bedstraw ( Galium fleurotii ), dwarf sedge ( Carex humilis ) and dwarf mouse-ear ( Cerastium pumilum ). Rose Wood and King's Wood are ancient woodland sites. King's Wood has coppiced hazel and nationally important small leaved lime . The nationally rare purple gromwell ( Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum ) occurs at Rose Wood. Shute Shelve Hill,

1960-659: The need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss.’ The concept of ancient woodland, characterised by high plant diversity and managed through traditional practices, was developed by the ecologist Oliver Rackham in his 1980 book Ancient Woodland, its History, Vegetation and Uses in England , which he wrote following his earlier research on Hayley Wood in Cambridgeshire . The definition of ancient woodland includes two sub-types: Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) and Planted ancient woodland site (PAWS). Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW)

2009-454: The original Nature Conservancy Council surveys. Ancient woods were valuable properties for their landowners, serving as a source of wood fuel , timber ( estovers and loppage) and forage for pigs ( pannage ). In southern England, hazel was particularly important for coppicing , whereby the branches were used for wattle and daub in buildings, for example. Such old coppice stumps are easily recognised for their current overgrown state, given

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2058-580: The size of suburban dacha or allotment garden plots or small city parks where the hectare would be too large. Many Russian dachas are 6 ares in size (in Russian, шесть соток ). The decare or dekare ( / ˈ d ɛ k ɑːr , - ɛər / ) is derived from deca and are , and is equal to 10 ares or 1000 square metres. It is used in Norway and in the former Ottoman areas of the Middle East and Bulgaria as

2107-571: The southern end of Crook Peak is considered to be of importance because of its clear, well-stratified sequence of deposits and faunas, all dating from within the Devensian . The cave is 8 metres (26 ft) below the plateau and 27 metres (89 ft) above the valley floor. It is named after M.J. Picken who found teeth in earth thrown out of their sets in the area by badgers. A large number of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts, and two Neanderthal teeth dated to about 55,000 years BP , have been recovered from

2156-485: The sustainable production of timber and other woodland products. During the 20th century, the use of such traditional management techniques has declined, concomitant with an increase in large-scale mechanized forestry. Consequently, coppicing is now seldom practiced, and overgrown coppice stools are a common feature in many ancient woods, with their numerous trunks of similar size. These shifts in management practices have resulted in alternations to ancient woodland habitats and

2205-424: The trees and shrubs have been felled periodically as part of the management cycle. Providing that the area has remained as woodland, the stand is still considered ancient. Since it may have been cut over many times in the past, ancient woodland does not necessarily contain trees that are particularly old. For many animal and plant species, ancient woodland sites provide the sole habitat. Furthermore, for many others,

2254-524: The village itself is Cross Plain where there are earthworks remaining from enclosures . Further east is Shute Shelve Hill, east of the A38 road, reaching a height of 233 metres (764 ft), above the town of Axbridge and adjoining Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill . A long-distance footpath, the Mendip Way , follows much of the northern boundary of the site. There is also a 165 metres (541 ft) long tunnel which

2303-683: The waning prevalence of the practice. In such overgrown coppice stools, large boles emerge from a common stump. The term 'forest' originally encompassed more than just woodland. It also referred to areas such as parkland , open heathland , upland fells, and any other territory situated between or outside of manorial freehold. These forests were the exclusive hunting preserve of the monarch or granted to nobility. The ancient woods that were situated within forests were frequently designated as Royal Parks . These were afforded special protection against poachers and other interlopers, and subject to tolls and fines where trackways passed through them or when firewood

2352-498: Was part of the Cheddar Valley Line but is now used by pedestrians and cyclists. Within the tunnel the central surface has been paved with tarmac, but it is unlit except for a central guide line of small guide lamps. The north half of the tunnel is brick lined, but about midway it reverts to unlined rock for the southern half, marking a change in the underlying geology from sandstone to limestone. Crook Peak has been important as

2401-425: Was permitted to be collected or other licenses granted. The forest law was rigorously enforced by a hierarchy of foresters, parkers and woodwards. In English land law , it was illegal to assart any part of a royal forest . This constituted the gravest form of trespass that could be committed in a forest, being more than a waste. While waste involved the felling of trees, which could be replaced, assarting entailed

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