Stelling Minnis
Encyclopedia
Stelling Minnis is a village and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Shepway
Shepway
Shepway is a local government district in Kent, England. It includes the towns of Folkestone and Hythe and the Romney Marsh. It is named after the Jutish lathe of Shepway; the Royal Court of Shepway, which met near Lympne at a place called Shepway Cross, was the principal court of the Cinque Ports...

 District in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The village lies 13 kilometres (8 mi) to the south of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, and to the east of the B2068, Stone Street, the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 road, which takes traffic between Lympne
Lympne
Lympne is a village situated on the former sea cliffs above the Romney Marsh in Kent. It lies approximately west of Folkestone, 2 miles west of Hythe and east of Ashford....

 and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

.

Windmill

Stelling Minnis is home to a Grade I listed wooden smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...

, built in 1866, and operated until 1970 when the last miller Alec Davison, died. It was restored to full working condition in 2003 with funding jointly provided by Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...

 and the Heritage Lottery Fund
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...

. Alongside the windmill is a museum exhibiting the history of the mill, and of the common as a whole. This is seasonally operated by volunteers.

Common

Stelling Minnis Common comprising 124 acres (50 Ha) is privately owned by the Trustees of the estate of the late Lord Tomlin of Ash
Ash (near Sandwich)
Ash is a village and civil parish in the Dover district of east Kent about three miles west of Sandwich.The civil parish has a population of 2,767, and includes the villages of Ash, Westmarsh, Ware and Hoaden. The Ash Level, by the River Stour, takes up the northern part of the parish.-History:Ash...

 and is one of the last remaining manorial commons in Kent. The Minnis is managed by volunteers drawn from the local community to act on behalf of the owners. Their work is guided by a management plan produced by Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust covers the county of Kent, England, and is one of the largest of the 47 Wildlife Trust organisations in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney...

 to enhance the biodiversity of the Minnis and promote the well-being of local residents and the wider community.

Ponds

There are several active ponds on the Minnis providing a mix of open water, aquatic and marginal plants attracting dragonflies, damselflies, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s, toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...

s and newt
Newt
A newt is an aquatic amphibian of the family Salamandridae, although not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts. Newts are classified in the subfamily Pleurodelinae of the family Salamandridae, and are found in North America, Europe and Asia...

s.

Flora and fauna

The habitat comprises mainly acidic grassland and heathland featuring a reduced variety of plants such as Western Gorse (Ulex gallii), heather
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...

, fungi — including some fly agaric — and many lichens. The associated woodland consists of broadleaved old English species such as oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

, and typical natives of the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...

 such as yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...

 and holly
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....

.

This habitat is home to badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...

s, foxes
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

, vole
Vole
A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars . There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America...

s, shrew
Shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...

s and weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....

s, Pipistrelle and Long-eared bats. Jay
Jay
The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex...

s, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The Great Spotted Woodpecker , Dendrocopos major, is a bird species of the woodpecker family . It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia, and usually resident year-round except in the colder parts of its range...

s are frequently seen, and rarer sightings include Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer
The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It is common in all sorts of open areas with some scrub or trees and form small flocks in winter....

s, Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
The Common Chiffchaff, or simply the Chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf-warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia....

s and Tree Pipit
Tree Pipit
Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis, is a small passerine bird which breeds across most of Europe and temperate western and central Asia. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to Africa and southern Asia....

s. Many butterflies such as the Comma
Comma (butterfly)
The Comma is a species of butterfly that ranges across Europe and temperate Asia to Japan and south to Morocco. Similar species are found in the United States and Canada.-Subspecies:...

 and Hedge Brown thrive here. Also found are Turtle Dove
Turtle Dove
The European Turtle Dove , also known as Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons.-Distribution & Status:...

s, 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...

s, Grey
Grey Partridge
The Grey Partridge, Perdix perdix, also known as the English Partridge, Hungarian Partridge, or Hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds...

 and Red-legged Partridge
Red-legged Partridge
The Red-legged Partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French Partridge, to distinguish it from the Grey or English Partridge....

, Barn
Barn Owl
The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical...

 and Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
The Long-eared Owl - Asio otus is a species of owl which breeds in Europe, Asia, and North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, family Strigidae, which contains most species of owl...

s.

Grazing

Grazing has continued here for hundreds of years as an important element of subsistence farming. Today, Kent Wildlife Trust recommends it as a proven successful method of maintaining the habitats of upland heaths. This is because:
  • It is selective and tends to favour the less aggressive flora
  • Hoof prints open up small pockets that can be colonized by seed
  • And it produces a net reduction in the nutrient content of the area grazed.


Without grazing, this habitat — and the wildlife it attracts — would be replaced by common shrubs of little interest.

Amenities

A Village Store and integrated Post Office can be found on the green
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...

 as well as the Rose and Crown Public House
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK