Sheepleas is a 99.9-hectare (247-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Guildford in Surrey.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site[3] and a Local Nature Reserve.[4][5] It is owned by Surrey County Council and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.[6]

Sheepleas

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Cowslip Meadow
Location	Surrey
Grid reference	TQ 089 516[1]
Interest	Biological Geological
Area	99.9 hectares (247 acres)[1]
Notification	1986[1]
Location map	Magic Map

History

The sheepleas was a long-standing area sheep grazing area[6] ('lēah' being an Old English term for pasture).[7] In 1915, it was included as one of 284 nature reserves on the Rothschild List.[8] Part of the sheepleas Surrey County Council bought in 1936 and a further area in the 1950s.[9]

Geography

This sloping site on the North Downs has woodland, scrub and botanically rich grassland. The diverse invertebrate fauna includes two nationally rare flies, Norellia spinipes and Microdon devius. A cutting in Mountain Wood exposes a unique gravel Pleistocene deposit which throws light on the Quaternary history of the Weald and the evolution of the London Basin.[10]

The site is open to the public.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sheepleas.