cmpic.jpg Copse Mead

Warden:    Rosemarie Holmes
map ref:    SZ586831
bus route: 2 (Cemetery Road via Green Lane)
                 3 (Cemetery Road via Sandown Rd)
footpath:   access track from Cemetery Road

The site of Copse Mead has been an unimproved meadow since the 1950s, bounded by hedges and trees.  Apart from a small area, it has not been treated with pesticides or herbicides.

Purchased in the 1950s for future burial land, wildlife has flourished in its natural habitat.  With enough burial land retained for future use, the surplus has been saved  from development.  Local residents have formed a support group to help look after this land and catalogue its wildlife, now under the auspices of Wight Nature Fund.
cmmap2.jpg
Copse Mead is one of the few green spaces left with public access in Lake.  Adjacent to Shanklin Cemetery, which is mostly a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), Copse Mead has evolved into a wonderful habitat for a wide range of species, some of which are endangered: slow-worms, hedgehogs, wasp spiders, long-winged conehead bush crickets, and many birds.  In the spring there are wild daffodils, bluebells, cherry-plum blossom, and in the summertime pipistrelle bats and many species of butterflies, moths, wild flowers and grasses.

The Funds objectives are to preserve the wildlife and enhance the wild flower meadow for the public and future generations to enjoy.




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