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WOOLMER FOREST HERITAGE SOCIETY


Hogmoor Inclosure and its Natural History
Total Area - 75 Hectares


The location is centred on British National Grid reference SU790347. It is bounded on its northern edge by Station Road and its western edge by Hogmoor Road. The eastern edge is separated from the A325 by the Woolmer Trading Estate and its southern edge is bounded by housing.

Hogmoor Inclosure is designated as a SINC. It is owned by the MOD and has been used as a military training area since the 19th Century. During the 20th Century it has been used as a tracked military vehicle training site replicating the adverse conditions present on sandy soils in many countries.

The natural history value of this site relates to the dry and limited wetland areas and the many shrubby areas of the site. The bare soil areas exposed by military activities are particularly interesting. However, this interest is not in the very eroded, continually used area but in the steep vertical sandy sides to the tracks and some of the much less frequently used edges to the driver training areas. Here Ling (Calluna vulgaris) and Bell Heather (Erica cinerea) survive with a few grass species. Grayling butterflies (Hipparchia semele), a typical heathland inhabitant and a BAP species, survive on the site. The local hoverfly, Xanthandrus comptus which has only occurred in eight other 10km squares in Hampshire, was recorded here in 2007.

The structure of this site including mature Scots Pine trees also supports the large and uncommon beetle Prionus coriarius. The scattered heathland patches that survive support the typical solitary wasp and bee populations similar to those that occur at Woolmer.

Only one small stream survives, feeding a single pond, which dries up in drought years such as 2006. The other wet heathland part was sadly bulldozed after it was sold by the MOD to provide an extension to the existing trading estate to its south.

UK BAP Species

Grayling Butterfly   Hipparchia semele
Yellow Bird's Nest   Monotropa hypopitys
Grass Snake   Natrix natrix
Adder   Vipera beris
Slow Worm   Anguis fragilis
Common Toad   Bufo bufo
Viviparous Lizard   Lacerta vivipara

Hampshire BAP Priority Habitat Action Plans

Lowland Heath
Bog
Acid Grassland
Standing Open Water

Notable Hampshire Species

Hoverfly   Xanthandrus comptus
Corn Spurrey   Spergula arvensis
Silver Hairgrass   Aira caryophyllea
Small Cudweed   Filago minima
Small Water-pepper   Persicaria minor
Lesser Winter-green   Pyrola minor





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