Rodborough Common, Gloucestershire

Rodborough Common
Site of Special Scientific Interest
	Rodborough Common - flowering sward including early purple orchid (orchis mascula)
	Location within Gloucestershire
Location	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO851035
Coordinates	51°43′50″N 2°12′59″W / 51.730465°N 2.216418°WCoordinates: 51°43′50″N 2°12′59″W / 51.730465°N 2.216418°W
Interest	Biological/Geological
Area	116.0 hectare
Notification	1954
	Natural England website

Rodborough Common is a 116.0-hectare (287-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954.^[1] The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 (online for download) as an SSSI and a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).^[2] The Common is also a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive ^[3]^[4]

Rodborough Common is sited south of Stroud and is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is north of Minchinhampton Common. It lies on Jurassic limestone and is on top of the Cotswold scarp. It is bounded on either side by the Nailsworth valley and the Frome valley. It is on a hill (a plateau area), and its margins are dissected by dry valleys. The sides of this plateau are steep.^[1]

Rodborough Common, like Minchinhampton Common, is notified for its biological and geological importance. The grassland is unimproved, herb-rich and calcareous. There is an important geological area for fossils for research purposes.^[1]

Geology[]

There are old quarry workings which are near Rodborough Fort. These contain exposures of Inferior Oolite limestones of the Middle Jurassic Period. The fossils are numerous in the strata, and provide many species. Of particular interest are bivalve molluscs, and these were first defined from specimens collected on this site. The site is particularly significant as it is the only remaining one in the region. It is close to the southern edge of the Middle Inferior Oolite. This is cut out beneath the overlying Upper Trigonia Grit (across the common and to the south). In research terms this shows the effects of earth movements on the local succession.^[1]

Biology[]

Flora[]

The grassland plateau supports tor-grass, upright brome, sheep's fescue and quaking grass. This area is relatively short as it is grazed and there is recreational use. The slopes support a higher sward and this is the area for insect life. Herbs recorded include chalk milkwort, clustered bellflower, kidney vetch and autumn gentian. There are several species of orchid which include frog orchid, bee orchid and musk orchid. The rare pasqueflower is recorded at this site.^[1]

Scrub is scattered over the Common and near the edges. This include hawthorn, bramble and there are various types of small trees. Juniper is present. Where there is broad-leaved woodland, this is mainly beech and ash.^[1]

Fauna[]

Invertebrates flourish on this site and butterflies recorded include the Duke of Burgundy and marsh fritillary. There are bugs, beetles and moths recorded. The snail Abida secale is present.^[1] In 2019 a project to reintroduce the endangered Large blue to the common was undertaken with an estimated 750 butterflies emerging in the summer of 2020.^[5]

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Natural England SSSI information on the citation
^ Stroud District Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 ‘Sites of Nature Conservation Interest’ Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
^ Information on Rodborough Common Special Area of Conservation designation.
^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee Listing of Special Areas of Conservation
^ "'Extinct' large blue butterfly reintroduced to common". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

SSSI Source[]

External links[]

Natural England (SSSI information)
National Trust

Rodborough Common
Rodborough Common
Rodborough Common flowering
Rodborough Common flowering
Butterfly on Rodborough Common
Green winged orchid on Rodborough Common
View to Stroud
View to Frome Valley
View facing east
A west view
A north view
Northern extent
View to south-west
View to south-west
A view looking north west to Forest of Dean
Rodborough Fort
Rodborough Common showing Fort

[NE_citation-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Natural England SSSI information on the citation

[2] Stroud District Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 ‘Sites of Nature Conservation Interest’ Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine

[3] Information on Rodborough Common Special Area of Conservation designation.

[4] Joint Nature Conservation Committee Listing of Special Areas of Conservation

[5] "'Extinct' large blue butterfly reintroduced to common". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v 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 Herefordshire Oxfordshire Wiltshire Worcestershire

v Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Alderton Hill Quarry Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Campden Tunnel Gravel Pit Cleeve Common Coaley Wood Quarries Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Easter Park Farm Quarry Edgehills Quarry Foss Cross Quarry Garden Cliff Hampen Railway Cutting Haresfield Beacon Harford Railway Cutting Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Quarry Huntsman's Quarry Jackdaw Quarry Kemble Railway Cuttings Knap House Quarry, Birdlip Land Grove Quarry, Mitcheldean Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Longhope Hill Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge Lydney Cliff May Hill Meezy Hurst Minchinhampton Common New Park Quarry Nibley Knoll Notgrove Railway Cutting Oakenhill Railway Cutting Puddlebrook Quarry River Wye Robin's Wood Hill Quarry Rodborough Common Salmonsbury Meadows Scully Grove Quarry Severn Estuary Slade Brook Stenders Quarry Stony Furlong Railway Cutting Swift's Hill Upper Severn Estuary The Malvern Hills Purton Passage Selsley Common Upper Wye Gorge Veizey's Quarry Wainlode Cliff Wellacre Quarry Wood Green Quarry & Railway Cutting Wotton Hill
Neighbouring areas Avon Herefordshire Oxfordshire Wiltshire Worcestershire