Blackheath is one of the largest areas of open space in inner south-east London, in an area with very few quality wildlife sites. Together with Greenwich Park, this forms a single composite Metropolitan site. Once a vast heathland wilderness and the haunt of Dick Turpin and other infamous highwaymen preying on Kent-bound travellers, Blackheath today mostly presents rolling acres of amenity grassland and is managed mainly for sport and recreation. There are still a few pockets of acid grassland however, with some scrub and four large ponds originally dug out for gravel and chalk. On a clear day the view over London from The Point, Blackheath’s highest area, is breathtaking.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Blackheath and Greenwich Park
Borough: Greenwich, Lewisham
Grade: Metropolitan
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 161.88 ha
Description
Wildlife
Blackheath was once renowned for its acid grassland flora, but has been intensively managed for many years. Perhaps because the mowing regime has been relaxed recently several uncommon but characteristic species have come back, including early hair-grass, buck's-horn plantain, slender parsley-piert, wood sage, and clustered and knotted clovers.One of the ponds on Blackheath now supports a diverse and thriving wetland flora, much of it planted as a project to enhance its wildlife in the early 1990s. The scrub areas consist mostly of gorse and broom, with young silver birch and oak trees.Facilities
Information (on signs); toilets; playground; car parking; cycle paths; waymarked walking route.
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