Mere Sands Wood

Mere Sands Wood
The main lake
Coordinates	53°38′08″N 2°50′14″W / 53.635491°N 2.83709°W / 53.635491; -2.83709Coordinates: 53°38′08″N 2°50′14″W / 53.635491°N 2.83709°W / 53.635491; -2.83709
Created	1982 (1982)
Operated by	Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside
Status	SSSI
Website	Official site

Mere Sands Wood is a 42 hectares (100 acres) nature reserve between the villages of Holmeswood and Rufford in west Lancashire, England, managed by the The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside. It lies about five miles from Ormskirk^[1]. The name derives from when the area was on the shore of Martin Mere^[1].

The reserve comprises lakes, mature broadleaved and conifer woodland, sandy, wet meadows and heaths^[1], standing on layers of sand and peat, deposited over boulder clay during the last Ice Age^[1]. Between 1974 and 1982 the sand was quarried for use in glass-making^[1]. Under a planning agreement, the site was landscaped into a nature reserve once the extraction was completed^[1]. The Trust acquired the site in 1982^[1] and the reserves was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological interest in 1985^[1].

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Mere Sands Wood". The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside. http://www.lancswt.org.uk/Our_Reserves/mere_sands_wood.htm#. Retrieved 2009-09-15. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Wildlife Trust page