Langford Heathfield is a 95.4 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (235.7 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Langford Budville

Langford Budville

Langford Budville is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near the River Tone miles north-west of Wellington, from Wiveliscombe and west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The parish includes the hamlets of Bindon, Lower Chipley, Lower Wellisford, Ramsey and Runnington...

, 3 km (1.9 mi) north west of Wellington

Wellington, Somerset

Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1966.

Most of this Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset, England.The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature reserves. Examples include Fyne Court, Westhay Moor,...

 reserve was purchased in 1982 with Coram’s wood and Lucas’s Copse added in 1985. The purchases were generously assisted by World Wide Fund for Nature

World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

, the Countryside Agency

Countryside Agency

The Countryside Agency in England was a statutory body set up in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The Agency was formed by merging the Countryside Commission and the Rural Development Commission...

, English Nature

English Nature

English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...

, Taunton Deane Borough Council

Taunton Deane

Taunton Deane is a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council is based in Taunton.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Taunton, Wellington Urban District, Taunton Rural District,...

, Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.-Area covered:...

 and the Royal Society for Nature Conservation.

Langford Heathfield comprises a variety of semi-natural habitats which includes neutral marshy grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

 and ancient woodland

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

. An outstanding assemblage of 26 different species
of resident breeding butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 have been recorded. Of these Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary

The Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.It is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.E. aurinia is represented by many subspecies.The most widely accepted...

 (Euphydryas aurina), High Brown Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

The High Brown Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, native from Europe across mainland Asia to Japan.The adults fly in July/August and lay eggs near to the larval food plants which are species of violets,...

 (Argynnis cydippe), Wood White (Leptidea sinapis) and Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

The Brown Hairstreak is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The range includes most of the Palaearctic.-Subspecies:...

 (Thecla betulae) all have a local distribution in Somerset. Other invertebrates of interest include the very local Beetles:
Mordellistena abdominalis and Ischnomera caerulea, and Hornet

Hornet

Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps; some species can reach up to in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex , which is proportionally larger in Vespa and by the anteriorly rounded gasters .- Life cycle :In...

 (Vespa crabro).
Four species of reptile are present: Adder (Vipera berus

Vipera berus

Vipera berus, the common European adder or common European viper, is a venomous viper species that is extremely widespread and can be found throughout most of Western Europe and all the way to Far East Asia. Known by a host of common names including Common adder and Common viper, adders have been...

), Grass Snake

Grass Snake

The grass snake , sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.-Etymology:...

 (Natrix natrix), Slow-Worm

Anguis fragilis

Anguis fragilis, or slow worm, slow-worm or slowworm, is a limbless reptile native to Eurasia. It is also sometimes referred to as the blindworm or blind worm, though the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds considers this to be incorrect.Slow worms are semi-fossorial lizards spending much...

 (Anguis fragilis) and Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara). Palmate Newt

Palmate Newt

The Palmate Newt is a species of newt found in most of Western Europe, including Great Britain. It is protected by law in all countries where it occurs, and is thought to be extremely rare to endangered in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and vulnerable in Spain and Poland but common...

s (Triturus helveticus) occur in the ponds and Common Frog

Common Frog

The Common Frog, Rana temporaria also known as the European Common Frog or European Common Brown Frog is found throughout much of Europe as far north as well north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, southern Italy, and the southern Balkans...

s (Rana temporaria) are frequent. A wide range of birds have been recorded including Nightingale

Nightingale

The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...

 (Luscinia megarhynchos) and Grasshopper Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

The Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds across much of temperate Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering from northwest Africa to India....

(Locustella naevia).

External links

• Langford Heathfield from Somerset Wildlife Trust