The 130mph winds uprooted trees and wreaked devastation throughout the park. Sweet chestnuts and other traditional trees were lost. As a Site of Special Scientific Interest, most of the trees that fell were left as deadwood, which has had significant benefits for fungi, plants and wildlife over the following years, as well as the trees that grew to replace them. You can still see remnants of the devastation in areas of the park today.
A Site of Special Scientific Interest
We’re proud that Knole Park is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. It means that we must work hard to ensure the park remains a thriving habitat for the diverse wildlife on the 100 acres that we manage. Across the park there’s acidic grassland, parkland, woodland and ponds, each home to a range of flora and fungi, as well as a variety of rare invertebrates.
Ants
The hilly central area of the park is mostly acidic grassland. The Common bent grass Agrostis capillaris dominates the turf. There’s also Sheep’s Fescue Festuca ovina, Sheep’s-Sorrel Rumex acetosella and Sweet Vernal-Grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, among others.
The sward (a large area of short grass) is dotted with hundreds of anthills. These were made by the intrepid Yellow Meadow Ant. Each hill contains between 8,000 and 14,000 ants. This species of ant has been resident at Knole for centuries and these “ant villages” are park institutions.