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Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats. The majority of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve. One of the very few lowland heaths in Cheshire, Sound Heath is a valuable habitat for heathland plants and animals, although its heathland character is currently under threat from the spread of trees and scrub. The common's ponds form one of the most important sites in the county for freshwater invertebrates. Three nationally rare or endangered species have been found within the area: the mud snail (which is now one of the UK's most endangered freshwater creatures, having been recently recategorised as near threatened across Europe in the new IUCN European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs), great raft spider and the ''Enochrus isotae'' species of water scavenger beetle, as well as the nationally scarce beautiful snout moth. The first sightings of the migrant hawker dragonfly in Cheshire were at Sound Heath, and many other locally rare species have been recorded here. The site is also an important breeding site for birds. ==Geography and geology== Sound Heath lies on the Cheshire Plain, 3 miles southwest of Nantwich, at an average elevation of around 65 metres.〔Ordnance Survey: Explorer series no. 257: Crewe & Nantwich, Whitchurch & Tattenhall〕 The underlying geology is Keuper marl (Mercia Mudstone Group), a red sandstone laid down during the Triassic period. Glacial sand deposition has generated a light, sandy soil which is nutrient poor. Localised sand extraction has resulted in numerous pools.〔〔 The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Sound Heath was designated in 1963〔 and occupies 4.80 Ha. The Local Nature Reserve (LNR), which is named Sound Common, was designated in 1992;〔(Natural England: Local Nature Reserves: Sound Heath ) (accessed 12 April 2010)〕 it is slightly smaller at 4.61 Ha. Both SSSI and LNR include two distinct sites: the larger site (3.84 Ha in the SSSI) lies between Wrenbury Heath Road–Sound Lane and the Red Lion Farm track, and is centred at around . A second smaller area (0.96 Ha) lies northeast of the main site, to the north of Wrenbury Heath Road, and is centred at around .〔(Natural England: Sound Heath: Condition of SSSI units ) (accessed 9 April 2010)〕〔(Natural England: Map of Sound Heath SSSI ) (accessed 25 July 2013)〕〔(Natural England: Map of Sound Heath LNR ) (accessed 25 July 2013)〕 The common land includes both SSSI/LNR sites and also extends over a larger region, including three additional areas contiguous with the larger SSSI/LNR site: north of Sound Lane, and in the triangles formed by Sound Lane, Wrenbury Heath Road and Heath View, and Wrenbury Heath Road, the Red Lion Farm track and an unnamed north–south track. It is open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.〔〔Natural England: CRoW Access Land Maps: Sound Heath (downloaded from (); 10 April 2010)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sound Heath」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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