Bookham Commons (grid reference TQ128565) are two commons, situated just to the north of the village of Fetcham, in Surrey, England, 1.51 square kilometres in extent; the individual parts are named Great Bookham Common and Little Bookham Common. A group of dwellings known as the Isle of Wight is situated within the site, and a track, Common Road, leads to the from the northwest. Little Bookham Common (the smaller of the two parts of the site) lies south and west of this track, whereas Great Bookham Common lies to the east. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Common land, or just common, is frequently used to describe a parcel of land, usually near the centre of towns and villages, which is thought to be owned in common by all the members of the community. ... Fetcham is a residential area in Surrey, just west of Leatherhead. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... The metre (or meter) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ...

Together the two commons comprise a Site of Special Scientific Interest, originally notified a such in 1961. A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. ...

The site is owned by the National Trust. A network of public footpaths crosses the site. The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, NT or The Trust, is an organisation which works to preserve and protect coastline, countryside and buildings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ...

Site description

The site sits on London Clay. Habitat types present include woodland, scrub, grassland and open water. The London Clay is a marine deposit which is well known for the fossils it contains. ... The term habitat has a number of unrelated meanings: A concept in Ecology: see habitat. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is differentiated from a forest. ... Scrub has a number of meanings: to rub a surface hard, especially with a brush; low lying vegetation. ... An Inner Mongolian Grassland. ...

Woodland covers approximately two-thirds of the site. The majority of this woodland is mature and dominated by Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur. These woodlands are dissected by a network of rides. Binomial name Quercus robur L. The Pedunculate Oak or English Oak (Quercus robur) is native to most of Europe, and to Asia Minor to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa. ...

Little Bookham Common is a mosaic of rough grassland and scrub; much of this common is poorly drained and there are several old gunpits and bomb craters. The areas of open grassland are dominated by Tufted Hair-grass Deschampsia cespitosa.

There are several woodland ponds on the site and a tributary of the River Mole runs across it. A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake. ... A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ... The River Mole is a river in Southern England, rising in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flowing north. ...

Biodiversity interest

The site's nature conservation importance (the reason for SSSI designation), is due to its plant communities, its community of breeding birds and its invertebrate communities.

Thin-spiked wood sedge Carex strigosa, which is scarce in Surrey, is present in woodlands at the site. Two species of rose which are scarce in Surrey, Rosa micrantha and Rosa stylosa are found in the scrub on Little Bookham Common. The bryophyte flora in the site's woodland is rich and includes one of only two Surrey localities for the moss Zygodon conoideus. Notable plants found in the grassland of Little Bookham Common include Southern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa, Pepper-saxifrage Silaum silaus, Spiked sedge Carex spicata and Adder’s-tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum. The flora of the site's open water habitats includes three plants which are scarce in Surrey: Greater Duckweed Lemna polyrhiza, Fat Duckweed Lemna gibba and Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot Ranunculus trichophyllus, while tall-herb fen communities here support two plants which are rare in Surrey, the grass Orange Foxtail Alopecurus aequalis and Eared Willow Salix aurita. Bryophytes are embryophyte plants (land plants) that are nevertheless non-vascular: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids. ...

Breeding birds which are associated with woodland at this site include Hawfinch, Woodcock and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, whilst those breeding in scrub areas include Nightingale and Grasshopper Warbler. Binomial name Coccothraustes coccothraustes (Linnaeus, 1758) The Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes, is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. ... This article is about the bird. ... Binomial name Dendrocopos minor (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. ... Binomial name Luscinia megarhynchos (Brehm, 1831) The Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) 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. ... Binomial name Locustella naevia (Boddaert,, 1783) The Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. ...

The site has a very well-recorded invertebrate fauna, which includes 611 species of beetle, 1140 species of fly, 146 true bugs, 201 spiders, 17 dragonflies and over 300 species of butterflies and moths. Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. ... Suborders Archidiptera Eudiptera Brachycera Diptera are insects in which the hind wings are reduced to halteres. ... Suborders Heteroptera Homoptera Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising some 67,500 known species in two suborders, Heteroptera and Homoptera. ... Suborders Araneomorphae Mesothelae Mygalomorphae See the taxonomy section for families Spiders are invertebrate animals that produce silk, have eight legs and no wings. ... Families Aeshnidae Austropetaliidae Cordulegastridae Corduliidae Gomphidae Libellulidae Neopetaliidae Petaluridae A dragonfly (also known as devils darning needle) is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta and, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. ...

Dead oak trees provide habitat for several beetles which are scarce in Surrey including Nemadus colonoides and Aridius nodifer . Two moths which occur, the Toadflax Brocade and the Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoth are nationally rare. This is a well-known site for the Purple Emperor, and other scarce butterflies which are present include White-letter and Purple Hairstreaks and White Admiral. Binomial name Apatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758) The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. ... Binomial name Satyrium w-album (Knoch, 1782) The White-Letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. ... Binomial name Neozephyrus quercus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Purple Hairstreak (Neozephyrus quercus) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. ... Binomial name Limenitis camilla (Linnaeus, 1764) The White Admiral (Limenitis camilla) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. ...