Caerwood & Ashberry Goose House

Also within

Gloucestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: Gorge / Ravine

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Description The Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley form one of the main British strongholds for the lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros and greater horseshoe bat R. ferrumequinum. Both of these species are rare and threatened due to the continuing loss of breeding and hibernation roosts and vital feeding areas and are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. European legislation also makes provision for the protection of these species and their habitats through the Bern Convention and EC Habitats Directive. Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House SSSI is one of three sites in Gloucestershire notified for their nationally important breeding roosts of lesser horseshoe bats. The site lies at the southern most tip of the Forest of Dean District at the top of the wooded gorge slopes of the Wye Valley. The other notified sites are Sylvan House Barn SSSI which lies five kilometres to the north and Blaisdon Hall SSSI which lies in the north eastern extreme of the Forest of Dean. The site consists of the roof spaces of two buildings which are used seasonally as lesser horseshoe bat nursery roosts. During the summer the females congregate in the nursery roosts where they give birth and raise their young. In late summer the bats disperse to winter hibernation sites including redundant buildings or underground mine systems. This seasonal use of separate breeding and wintering roosts use is common to all British bats which typically remain faithful to their preferred roost sites. There are indications that parts of this site may have been used by breeding lesser horseshoe bats for more than fifty years. The suitability of the roof spaces for bats is dependant on temperature and ventilation and the absence of human disturbance. At this site the bats move between the two parts of the roost to obtain the optimum conditions throughout the breeding season and this pattern is largely influenced by the weather. The site is also used as a nursery roost by pipistrelle bats Pipistrellus pipistrellus.

Species mentioned