St.
Catherine’s hill is a 53ft hill located to the north in the borough of Christchurch, Dorset which together with Ramsdown and Blackwater hill forms a 35-hectare ridge between the valleys of Avon and Stour.At 163ft above sea level, the hill is the highest area in Christchurch and boasts some of the most spectacular views of the county. it is bordered by Town Common nature reserve and the Wessex way (A338) and provides a wide range of habitats with both wet and dry heathlands, scrublands, and coniferous and broadleaf woodlands.
Best services for writing your paper according to Trustpilot
While the top of St Catherine’s hill is mainly open pine woods, some areas are being cleared away to match the eastern slopes, which are a fragments of somewhat unaffected Dorset heathland. The slopes and base of the hill (an area known as ‘Town Common’) however, have numerous European protection designations including, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area for Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA), reflecting that these areas are tremendously valuable to UK wildlife as they are home to an abundance of rare flora and fauna such as: the Dartford warbler, smooth snake, sand lizard, nightjar, silver-studded blue butterfly, scarce chaser, adder, the white-legged damselfly.The sandy soils on the heath are particularly acidic and, is even more so than much of the New Forest. As a result, this has led to some plants that are rare or even considered absent in the New Forest to be present on the hill, especially in the damper areas of the site. A notably unusual plant species that thrives there is the carnivorous sundew.
The St Catherine’s Hill area supports all three UK species, although the great sundew has rarely been found. The compact long leaved sundew and the round leaved sundew appear to flourish on the damp paths and bridleways as records show that these locations are considerably valuable as there has been an increase in numbers within recent years suggesting that they are prime locations for them to be able to easily attract and trap flies to absorb nutrients and so suitably fulfilling their needs.Another notable plant species commonly found on the hill is heather and this is mostly found to cover all the open ground throughout the area. In August and September particularly, it can produce a vibrant purple flower.
Specifically, the more common species of heather that can be found is bell and ling heather where it is predominantly on the slopes and cross leaved heather in contrast, is more common on the wetter areas of the hill. The Town Common area supports other heathland plants preferring the damper area such as; bog asphodel, sphagnum moss and cotton grass, which are easily recognisable. in addition, this flora supports fauna that occupy the heathland niche with some specialist birds, reptiles and insects inhabiting the area.Reptiles in particular, are exceptional as all six species of rare, native British reptile occur on Town Common’s heath which is a part of a nature reserve that is managed by the Herpetological Conservation Trust and leased from the owners of Malmesbury Estate. There are hardly any areas in the UK where all these species occur and especially all at once, however, there have been very rare sightings of them on St.
Catherine’s hill.
