47-522: Ditchling Common is a 66.5-hectare (164-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Wivelsfield in East Sussex . It is a country park . which is owned and managed by East Sussex County Council . In many respects, it is a biologically important site of the Low Weald supporting a rich array of biodiversity not found anywhere else in the area. There are two areas of Ditchling Common:
94-953: A protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man . SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves , Ramsar sites , Special Protection Areas , and Special Areas of Conservation . The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological SSSI/ASSIs may be selected for various reasons, which for Great Britain
141-580: A continuation of the historical management of the land. Where an owner or occupier is unwilling or unable to carry out management, ultimately the conservation body can require it to be done. Public bodies which own or occupy an SSSI have a duty to manage it properly. Site management statements for SSSI in Scotland are available to download from the NatureScot website using the "Sitelink" facility. The law protecting SSSIs now covers everyone, not just public bodies and
188-445: A kaleidoscope of hybrids. It is one of the few truly native sites for wild columbine flowers and ling heather clings on. There are still rarities too including narrow buckler and adders tongue ferns, pignut , and the little heath milkwort . In springtime there are emperor moths , in summer, there are green and purple hairstreak butterfly and in 2017 a well established colony of the rare and elusive black hairstreak butterfly
235-474: A long way upstream of a wetland SSSI might require consultation. Some developments might be neutral or beneficial, even if they are within the SSSI itself – the critical point is whether they harm the interest features. The owners and occupiers of SSSIs are required (Scotland, England, Wales) to obtain consent from the relevant nature conservation body if they want to carry out, cause or permit to be carried out within
282-407: A proposed activity would not affect the interest or is beneficial to it, then the conservation body will issue a "consent" allowing it to be carried out without further consultation. If it would be harmful, the conservation body may issue consent subject to conditions or refuse the application. If consent in writing is not given the operation must not proceed. Conditions may cover any relevant aspect of
329-428: A site may contain strata containing vertebrate fossils, insect fossils and plant fossils and it may also be of importance for stratigraphy . Geological sites fall into two types, having different conservation priorities: exposure sites, and deposit sites. Exposure sites are where quarries , disused railway cuttings, cliffs or outcrops give access to extensive geological features, such as particular rock layers. If
376-425: A standard list for that country. The ORCs/OLDs are not "banned" activities – the list includes activities which would damage the interest, but also many which might be beneficial. For example, " grazing " (a standard item on the list) would require consent, even on a chalk grassland or heathland where grazing is an essential part of management. In England and Wales the list of OLDs is almost the same for each SSSI – and
423-533: Is also gone despite many reintroductions attempts between 1960 and 1991. 50°57′04″N 0°06′07″W / 50.951°N 0.102°W / 50.951; -0.102 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
470-478: Is at its most complete. The Country Park is well known for its spring time display of bluebells, but unlike most bluebell displays that are usually protected by a leafy tree canopy, here the bluebell are sheltered by bracken. There is still petty whin , meadow thistle , bitter vetch , saw wort , dyer's greenweed , heath bedstraw , tormentil , betony and devil's bit scabious . There are also many orchids including heath spotted and common spotted orchid and
517-516: Is governed by published SSSI Selection Guidelines. Within each area, a representative series of the best examples of each significant natural habitat may be notified, and for rarer habitats all examples may be included. Sites of particular significance for various taxonomic groups may be selected (for example birds, dragonflies , butterflies , reptiles, amphibians , etc.)—each of these groups has its own set of selection guidelines. Conservation of biological SSSI/ASSIs usually involves continuation of
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#1732848453043564-420: Is not necessarily absolute—generally it requires the SSSI interest to be considered properly against other factors. Local planning authorities are required to have policies in their development plans which protect SSSIs. They are then required to consult the appropriate conservation body over planning applications which might affect the interest of an SSSI (such a development might not be within or even close to
611-449: The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2010 ). Access to SSSIs is the same as for the rest of the countryside of the relevant country. Most SSSIs/ASSIs are in private ownership and form parts of working farms, forests and estates. In Scotland, people may use their rights of responsible access to visit SSSIs. When designating an SSSI/ASSI, the relevant nature conservation body must formally notify
658-927: The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 , but the current legal framework for SSSIs is provided in England and Wales by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 , amended in 1985 and further substantially amended in 2000 (by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 ), in Scotland by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 and in Northern Ireland by the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 . SSSIs are also covered under
705-561: The Water Resources Act 1991 and related legislation. An SSSI may be made on any area of land which is considered to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna , flora , geological or physiographical / geomorphological features. SSSI notification can cover any "land" within the area of the relevant nature conservation body, including dry land, land covered by fresh water . The extent to which an SSSI/ASSI may extend seawards differs between countries. In Scotland an SSSI may include
752-560: The ORC lists for each SSSI and removed those activities that were unlikely to happen and if they were to would be unlikely to damage the protected natural features, and other activities adequately regulated by other statutory regimes. The intention of this was to remove the need for owners and occupiers to obtain SSSI consent as well as licences/ permits from other authorities (who must consult NatureScot prior to determining such applications). Purely geological SSSIs often have much shorter OLD lists. If
799-581: The SSSI Register, hosted by The Registers of Scotland . Further information about SSSIs in Scotland is available on the NatureScot website. The decision to notify an SSSI is made by the relevant nature conservation body (the appropriate conservation body ) for that part of the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland Environment Agency , Natural England , NatureScot or Natural Resources Wales . SSSIs were originally set up by
846-414: The SSSI any of the activities listed in the notification. Formerly these activities were called 'potentially damaging operations' or PDOs. Under the current legal arrangements they are called 'operations requiring consent' or ORCs (Scotland), or 'operations likely to damage the SSSI interest' or OLDs (England & Wales). The list of ORCs/OLDs for each SSSI is unique to that site – though all are derived from
893-402: The SSSI itself). The effect of this is to prevent development which harms the interest – except where the value of that interest is over-ridden by some more important factor, for example a requirement for a major road or port or oil pipe. The requirement for consultation covers any development which might affect the interest, not just developments within the SSSI itself – for example, a development
940-550: The Saturniinae typically live about 5–12 days and are mostly nocturnal, excluding males in four of the subfamilies. The moths do not eat during their short lives and their mouths are not fully formed. In some species of Saturniinae, there is unmistakable sexual dimorphism . The females in these subfamilies can weigh almost double that of the males, are larger in size, and have larger wings. The Saturniinae's eggs are oblong and are laid flat against each other in clusters. Once hatched,
987-479: The area's biodiversity. Cattle grazing and scrub control are systematic and regular and as a result the old vegetation is still intact. There is a mosaic of tufted hair grass and purple moor grass , tormentil and dyer's greenweed , with low clumps of dwarf and European gorses , some thorn scrub, and a few super-special 'lawns' of rare marsh plume meadow thistle , with accompanying least willow , spring , carnation and glaucous sedges and quaking grass . On
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#17328484530431034-486: The chief fame of the Common to lepidopterists . Most, if not all of the micromoths, are now gone, but their evocative names, such as large gold case bearer , the greenweed leaf miner, the greenweed flat body , and the petty whin case bearer , are remembered. Also gone are the rare tawny and flea sedges , starfruit at the pond, and silver studded blue and small pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies. The marsh fritillary
1081-465: The date 1734 on the bird at its top. It remembers the pedlar, Jacob Harris, who in that year committed murder in the Kings Head pub and as a reminder of his crime had his dead body suspended on a gibbet outside the pub for many months. The post itself took on a life of its own as people believed infertility and other ailments could be cured by touching the post. This continued into the 19th century despite
1128-837: The designating authority is NatureScot ; the role in Wales is performed by Natural Resources Wales (formerly the Countryside Council for Wales ). In the Isle of Man the role is performed by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture . Geological SSSI/ASSIs are selected by a different mechanism to biological ones, with a minimalistic system selecting one site for each geological feature in Great Britain. Academic geological specialists have reviewed geological literature, selecting sites within Great Britain of at least national importance for each of
1175-461: The exposure becomes obscured, the feature could in principle be re-exposed elsewhere. Conservation of these sites usually concentrates on maintenance of access for future study. Deposit sites are features which are limited in extent or physically delicate—for example, they include small lenses of sediment , mine tailings , caves and other landforms . If such features become damaged they cannot be recreated, and conservation usually involves protecting
1222-504: The feature from erosion or other damage. Following devolution, legal arrangements for SSSIs (Scotland, England, Wales) and ASSIs (Northern Ireland) differ between the countries of the UK. The Isle of Man ASSI system is a separate entity. NatureScot publishes a summary of the SSSI arrangements for SSSI owners and occupiers (other than public bodies) which can be downloaded from its website. Legal documents for all SSSIs in Scotland are available on
1269-405: The interest), but not illegal trail biking. This loophole was closed by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and section 19 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. Funding for the monitoring of SSSIs in England has been cut from £1.58 million in 2010 to £700,000 in 2018, causing concern that many have not been inspected over the last six years, as required by guidelines. Since
1316-473: The interested parties and allow a period for them to make representations before confirming the notification. When creating a new SSSI/ASSI the designation has legal effect from the date of notification. The interested parties include central government, local planning authorities , national park authorities, all the owners and occupiers of the land, relevant public bodies such as the utility providers e.g., water companies . In Scotland, NatureScot must also notify
1363-464: The intertidal land down to mean low water spring or to the extent of the local planning authority area, thus only limited areas of estuaries and coastal waters beyond MLWS may be included. In England, Natural England may notify an SSSI over estuarial waters and further adjacent waters in certain circumstances (section 28(1A & 1B) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended by Part 2 of Annex 13 of
1410-419: The largest sized Lepidoptera , such as the luna moth , atlas moth , and many more. The Saturniinae is an important source of wild silk and human food in many different cultures. The saturniine genera , approximately 169 in number, are divided into four major and one minor ( Micragonini ) tribes . The genus Adafroptilum presently consists of a group of species with undetermined relationships. Adults in
1457-402: The list for an SSSI will only omit activities impossible on the particular SSSI (such as fishing where there is no water), and things requiring planning permission (which are covered by the local planning authority consultation process). In Scotland, and following the implementation of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, Scottish Natural Heritage (the former name for NatureScot) reviewed
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1504-581: The marshy winter grassland, snipe are still visitors. In late summer large serotine bats forage and the forest specialist's Bechstein's and Barbastelle bats are also present across both parts of the Common. Despite the richness of today's Common, much has been lost. Nightingales used to breed here, but no longer. On both the commoners' Common and the Country Park, the closely related sub-shrubs Dyer's greenweed and petty whin were host to dependant populations of at least seven rare micro-moths, which were
1551-519: The most important features within each geological topic (or block ). Each of these sites is described, with most published in the Geological Conservation Review series, and so becomes a GCR site . Almost all GCR sites (but no other sites) are subsequently notified as geological SSSIs, except some that coincide with designated biological SSSI management units. A GCR site may contain features from several different topic blocks, for example
1598-400: The natural and artificial processes which resulted in their development and survival, for example the continued traditional grazing of heathland or chalk grassland . In England, the designating body for SSSIs, Natural England , selects biological SSSIs from within natural areas which are areas with particular landscape and ecological characteristics, or on a county basis. In Scotland,
1645-979: The new Act, often with boundary changes. This complex process took some ten years to complete for the several thousand SSSIs. For the purposes of selecting the original tranche of SSSIs, Natural England's predecessors (the Nature Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy Council and English Nature ) used a system termed "areas of search" (AOSs). In England these were largely based on the 1974–1996 administrative counties (with larger counties divided into two or more areas), whereas in Scotland and Wales they are based around districts. The individual AOSs are between 400 km (150 sq mi) and 4,000 km (1,500 sq mi) in size. There were 59 AOSs in England, 12 in Wales, and 44 in Scotland. Watsonian vice-counties were formerly used for selection over
1692-497: The northern area, which is owned by East Sussex County Council and has become Ditchling Country Park, and is itself split in two by the fast traffic of the Ditchling Road (B2112); and the southern area south of Folders Lane, which is owned by Commoner's Association. Despite the publicised Country Park walks concentrating on the area east of the Ditchling Road, the area to the west is as rich in biodiversity with rare plants such as
1739-399: The notification is then confirmed or withdrawn (in whole or part). At the time of the passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 , many SSSIs were already in existence, having been notified over the previous decades under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 . Each of these was considered in turn, and either denotified, or renotified —brought under the provisions of
1786-412: The original post being replaced. The common has several different types of acidic heath grassland, together with areas of bracken, scrub, woodland, streams and a pond. The rich butterfly and moth fauna includes several uncommon species. It is in this area of the middle Sussex Low Weald that the old clay land community of herbs and sub-shrubs, grasses and sedges, on the spectrum from marsh to dry slope,
1833-447: The owners and occupiers of SSSIs. Previously, activities by "third parties" were not illegal under the SSSI legislation. This meant that damaging activities such as fly-tipping , intensive bait-digging or trail biking on an SSSI were only prevented if done (or permitted) by the owner or occupier – not if done by trespassers or under public rights. The effect was, for example, to allow control of legal trail biking on SSSIs (where damaging to
1880-517: The proposed operation and may, for example, limit its timing, location or intensity. The process is slightly different where the owner or occupier is a public body, but the effect is broadly similar. The relevant nature conservation body sends all SSSI owners and occupiers a site-specific 'site management statement' describing the ideal management (there may be grants available to help fund management). Owners and occupiers are encouraged to carry out this management, which in many (but not all) cases will be
1927-557: The referendum to leave the EU in 2016, more than 450 staff have been transferred to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Neglected areas include Exmoor , the Lake District , the Pennines , and The Wash . The process of designating a site as of Special Scientific Interest is called notification; this is followed by consultation with the site's owners and occupiers, and
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1974-560: The relevant community councils and community group having registered an interest in the land. The notification includes a description of the land and the natural features for which it is notified ("the citation"), a boundary map, and a list of the acts or omissions (activities) that the nature conservation body regulates through the issue of consents. The various laws protect the interest features of SSSIs from development, from other damage, and (since 2000 in England) also from neglect. Protection
2021-561: The tiny adder's tongue fern and big swarms of petty whin . The extent of the present Ditchling Common (including the Country Park) has changed little since 1300. The manor of Ditchling, held in modern times by the Marquess of Abergavenny , owned the Commons since in the medieval ages and only sold the land in 1950. During the following twenty-five years the richness of the Common's biodiversity
2068-629: The whole of Great Britain. Saturniinae The Saturniinae or saturniines are a subfamily of the family Saturniidae , also known as giant silkmoths . They are commonly known as emperor moths or wild silk moths. They are easily spotted by the eyespots on the upper surface of their wings. Some exhibit realistic eye-like markings, whilst others have adapted the eyespots to form crescent moon or angular shapes or have lost their wing scales to create transparent windows. They are medium to very large moths, with adult wingspans ranging from 7.5 to 15 cm, in some cases even more. They consist of some of
2115-405: Was damaged. The northern park became overgrown with scrub following a cessation of grazing the area. On the commoners' Common, where three-quarters was ploughed up and fertilised. There was a public outcry from local people and other commoners, who pursued a campaign to stop the destruction of the area's rich biodiversity. Ultimately legal action was brought on the farmers and the archaic biodiversity
2162-501: Was discovered that is thought to have existed undetected for some time. The commoners' Common is the only part where the character of the original common is maintained and there is still a sense of landscape-scale openness. The biodiversity of the western part survived the farmers intent on ploughing and fertilising the grassland in the decades following the second world war. Now the Commoners Association do important work to save
2209-446: Was partially saved. The northern half of the Common was bought by East Sussex County Council in 1974 and the area was designated a Country Park. Since then they have started partial grazing of the area. The southern half is now managed by the Commoners Association who in recent years have done excellent work to save the southern area's biodiversity. At the very north of the Common one can find Jacob's Post ( TQ 337 197 ), which has
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