Swithland Wood and The Brand

Swithland Wood and The Brand
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Disused slate quarry in Swithland Wood
LocationLeicestershire
Grid referenceSK 538 125[1]
InterestBiological
Area87.9 hectares (217 acres)[1]
Notification1983[1]
Location mapMagic Map

Swithland Wood and The Brand is a 87.9 hectares (217 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire.[1][2] Swithland Wood is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade II.[3] The Brand is designated a Precambrian site in the Geological Conservation Review,[4] but the dating has been changed due to the discovery of trace fossils from the succeeding Cambrian period.[5]

Swithland Wood is 5 miles north of Leicester
Swithland Wood is 5 miles north of Leicester
Swithland Wood
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Location of Swithland Wood, Leicestershire
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Roecliffe Road Car Park
Hallgates Car Park
Hallgates
Swithland Road Car Park
Cropston reservoir
The Brand

Swithland Wood is a public woodland in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire. Although close to the village of Swithland, it is almost entirely within the parish of Newtown Linford, just north of Bradgate Park and also near Woodhouse Eaves and Cropston. The wood is Leicestershire's most important ancient woodland for nature conservation.[6] Quarries within the wood were a source of the distinctive Swithland Slate roofs found on many local buildings as well as the slate gravestones common in Leicestershire churchyards. Swithland Wood has been a public woodland since 1925, upon its acquisition by the Leicester Rotary Club, having previously been part of the estate of the manor of Groby. Since 1931 it has been managed by the Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood Trust.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Swithland Wood and The Brand". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Map of Swithland Wood and The Brand". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  3. ^ Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521-21403-3.
  4. ^ "The Brand (Precambrian of England & Wales)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  5. ^ Ambrose 2007, p. 6.
  6. ^ Squires 1994, p. 133.
  7. ^ Woodward 1992, p. 34.