Coalville Meadows

Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire, England

Coalville MeadowsSite of Special Scientific Interest

Location| Leicestershire
Grid reference| SK 446 151[1]
Interest| Biological
Area| 6.0 hectares (15 acres)[1]
Notification| 1983[1]
Location map| Magic Map

Coalville Meadows is a 6.0 hectares (15 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Whitwick and Coalville in Leicestershire.[1][2] It is managed by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood.[3]

It is one of the best examples of neutral grassland that has developed on the somewhat leached clay soils of Leicestershire and is representative of such grassland in Central and Eastern England.[4] It is bounded on the West by a former minerals railway line, to the South by social housing, the east by Holly Hayes Woodland, and to the North by an aggregate storage area, and have developed on soils derived from the clays of the Triassic Keuper Marl. The grassland is poorly drained and is dominated by tufted hair-grass Deschampsia caespitosa, Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus, red fescue Festuca rubra and great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis. Additionally, flora typical of relatively base-poor clay soils, such as pignut Conopodium majus, betony Betonica officinalis, heath bedstraw Galium saxatile, tormentil Potentilla erecta, devil's-bit scabious Succisa pratensis, and mat grass Nardus stricta, are present. The grassland also includes typical meadow species as saw-wort Serratula tinctoria, meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum, knapweed Centaurea nigra and lady's smock Cardamine pratensis.

In 2008, the site was bought by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood who wanted to see the meadow land restored to its former glory. The group is working with Natural England to re-establish appropriate maintenance which it hoped will lead to a more appropriate 'favourable' status and to ensure that the meadow is meeting its conservation objectives. [5]

There is access to the site from the Ivanhoe Way footpath.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Coalville Meadows". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
2. ^ "Map of Coalville Meadows". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
3. ^ "Communities and their woodlands". The National Forest. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
4. ^ "Coalville Meadows citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
5. ^ "Minutes of the Executive Board, 28 November 2006". North-West Leicestershire District Council. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2009-10-02.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coalville Meadows.

52°44′N 1°20′W﻿ / ﻿52.73°N 1.34°W﻿ / 52.73; -1.34

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Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire

Biological|

* Allexton Wood
* Ashby Canal
* Bardon Hill
* Barrow Gravel Pits
* Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods
* Benscliffe Wood
* Blackbrook Reservoir
* Botcheston Bog
* Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir
* Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry
* Breedon Hill
* Briery Wood Heronry, Belvoir
* Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir
* Burbage Wood and Aston Firs
* Cave's Inn Pits
* Charnwood Lodge
* Chater Valley
* Coalville Meadows
* Cotes Grassland
* Cribb's Lodge Meadows
* Croft Hill
* Croft Pasture
* Croxton Park
* Debdale Meadow, Muston
* Dimminsdale
* Donington Park
* Eye Brook Reservoir
* Eye Brook Valley Woods
* Frisby Marsh
* Grace Dieu and High Sharpley
* Grantham Canal
* Great Bowden Borrowpit
* Groby Pool and Woods
* Harby Hill Wood
* Holly Rock Fields
* Holwell Mouth
* Kendall's Meadow
* Kilby - Foxton Canal
* King Lud's Entrenchments and The Drift
* Launde Big Wood
* Leighfield Forest
* Lockington Marshes
* Loughborough Meadows
* Lount Meadows
* Misterton Marshes
* Muston Meadows
* Narborough Bog
* Newton Burgoland Marshes
* Oakley Wood
* Owston Woods
* Pasture and Asplin Woods
* River Eye
* River Mease
* Roecliffe Manor Lawns
* Saddington Reservoir
* Sheepy Fields
* Sheet Hedges Wood
* Stanford Park
* Stonesby Quarry
* Swithland Wood and The Brand
* Terrace Hills Pasture
* Twenty Acre Piece
* Ulverscroft Valley
* Wymondham Rough

Geological|

* Bardon Hill Quarry
* Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods
* Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir
* Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry
* Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir
* Charnwood Lodge
* Cliffe Hill Quarry
* Croft and Huncote Quarry
* Dimminsdale
* Enderby Warren Quarry
* Gipsy Lane Pit
* Grace Dieu and High Sharpley
* Ives Head
* Main Quarry, Mountsorrel
* Newhurst Quarry
* One Barrow Plantation
* Shepshed Cutting
* Sproxton Quarry
* Tilton Cutting

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