Poor's Allotment

Poor's Allotment
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Poor's Allotment with grazing cattle
Location within Gloucestershire
Area of Search	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	ST560990
Coordinates	51°41′19″N 2°38′14″W / 51.688475°N 2.637178°W / 51.688475; -2.637178Coordinates: 51°41′19″N 2°38′14″W / 51.688475°N 2.637178°W / 51.688475; -2.637178
Interest	Biological
Area	28.57 hectare
Notification	1954
Natural England website

Poor's Allotment (grid reference ST560990) is a 28.57-hectare (70.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954.^[1]^[2] The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).^[3]

The site is now part of a larger nature reserve of 60 hectares (The Park & Poor's Allotment (grid reference ST558992)) managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The Park's conservation interest is now managed in partnership with the Forestry Commission who are the land owners. Poor’s Allotment is owned by trustees from the parish of Tidenham.^[4]

Location and history

The site partly overlies carboniferous rocks of the Forest of Dean. Some of the site is heath vegetation which is over Drybrook sandstone, and some is vegetation which grows on the calcareous soils on Drybrook limestone. This nature of this site is, therefore, of significant regional importance because of this complexity of habitats.^[1]

The land (as its name would indicate) was historically allocated under an Enclosure Award (1814) and was to be managed for the benefit of the poor. The parishes involved were Lancaut and Tidenham. It remains rough grazing land and it is a local viewpoint.^[1]

Habitat and flora

This is acidic grassland and lowland heath with areas of dense bracken. In the south-east the limestone soils support calcareous grassland and broad-leaved woodland.^[1]

Heathland species include Common bent, Sheep's Fescue and Creeping Fescue. There are extensive areas of Western Gorse and Ling. Also recorded are Bell Heather, Cross-leaved Heath, Bilberry, Sheep's Sorrel and Heath Bed-straw. The calcareous limestone grassland includes a range of fescue species and herbs such as Rock Rose, Thyme, Stemless Thistle, Salad Burnet and Bird's-foot Trefoil. The wooded areas include Oak, Holly, Yew, Field Maple and Whitebeam. Ground flora includes Dog's Mercury and Bluebell^[1]

Recently noted scarce plants are Flea Sedge, Soft-leaved sedge, Autumn-ladies tresses, Star sedge and Lesser skullcap. Alder buckthorn also occurs.

There is a spring which feeds a pond towards the centre of the site. This area supports invertebrates. Wetland plants flourish along the edges.^[1]

References

SSSI Source

External links

Natural England (SSSI information)

A stile into Poor's Allotment
Poor's Allotment
Spring and pond on Poor's Allotment
Footpath on Poor's Allotment

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows

Neighbouring areas Avon Hereford and Worcester Oxfordshire Wiltshire

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