Grid reference ST265122 Area 12 ha Notification 1988 | Interest Biological Area of search Somerset | |
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Long Lye (grid reference ST265122) is an 11.7 hectare (29.0 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Buckland St Mary in the Blackdown Hills, Somerset, notified in 1988.
This site along with the adjoining Long Lye Meadow were considered to be under threat from a scheme to widen the A303.
Long Lye is a traditionally managed neutral grassland of a type which was once characteristic of lowland Britain but has now become increasingly rare due to agricultural intensification. Mature broadleaved woodland and wet flush communities add considerable diversity to this site. Fifteen species of butterfly have been recorded here. They include the silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), of which the valenzia form has been found, purple hairstreak (Quercusia quercus) and marbled white (Melanargia golathea).