Area: 0.1 hectares.
Description and Reasons for Notification:
The large roof spaces above the stables and outhouses at Creech Grange constitute the second-most important summer roost site for the Dorset colony of the greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, one of the rarest of British bats.
A large proportion of the Dorset population of greater horseshoe bats uses the extensive roof space as a gathering place in spring when moving between hibernation sites and the colony’s nursery roost at Bryanston SSSI. In the autumn the site is also believed to be an important mating place for the bats. Like Bryanston SSSI, Creech Grange has for a number of years been a site of research on greater horseshoe bats, contributing greatly to our knowledge of this species.
Seven other species of bats, including the local grey long-eared bat Plecotus austriacus, are also known to use the roof spaces of the outhouses and the main buildings, in several cases as a nursery roost.
Site Notified to Secretary of State on 18 December 1986