A medium sized container in a mosaic of pine woodland and open areas of heath undergoing restoration.
The Serpent Trail - A 64 mile long path that leads you through the purple heather, green woods and golden valleys of the Sussex greensand hills. The sandy heaths are rare and special places for people and wildlife.
ABOUT THE SITE
Marley common is owned and managed by the National Trust, it's one of their oldest land holdings that they acquired in 1911.
Size: 60 hectares or 150 acres
Designations: Registered common, Open Access Site
NATURE & WILDLIFE
- The area had become over-run with scrub so in 2007/8 the area was cleared to restore heathland vegetation including heather, gorse and bilberry with scattered pine, birch and beech. Since then it has been fenced and grazed with the trusts own small herd of belted galloways.
- The site is home to the Green Hairstreak butterfly which likes to lay its eggs on the plentiful new gorse shoots is often seen on Marley Common which also boasts a well-established colony of lovely Yellow Brimstone butterflies.
HISTORY
The area was used as an army training ground during the Second World War, many heathland sites were used in this way.
HEATHLAND
Heathlands occur on infertile land with thin acidic soils. The soils are usually sandy and therefore free-draining so they do not hold water for long. Heaths are often subject to summer droughts. Fires are a constant hazard, particularly as much of the vegetation is very resinous adding to the fire risk.
Heathlands are a man-made habitat, created thousands of years ago by our ancestors to provide firewood, craft materials and grazing for livestock. They are very vulnerable to rapid loss and degradation, especially through neglect. Birch and Scot’s Pine seedlings soon take over and turn areas into woodland because they shade out the underlying heath vegetation.
The wide open landscape is dominated by heather, gorse and grasses which provide a superb habitat for invertebrates (over 5000), ground nesting birds and all six native reptiles. Many internationally rare species can be found on heathland.
95% of lowland heaths have been lost globally. 1,544 ha of lowland heathland can be found in the National Park which represents an important international resource.
PERMISSIONS
Cache placed with kind permission from The National Trust.