Highgate Common

Highgate Common is a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve containing a mix of heathland and woodland. It is about 129 hectares or 320 acres in size. The common is a popular leisure destination and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in Southern Staffordshire, England.

Highgate Common is situated to the west of the West Midlands conurbation, on a ridge above the Smestow valley. By road it is 1.2 miles from Swindon, 1.7 miles from Enville, 4.5 miles from Wombourne, 9 miles from Perton and 10 miles from Wolverhampton.

Since April 2009 Highgate Common has been owned and managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

The site was previously managed by South Staffordshire District Council.

A warden is present most days and their duties are aided by various support staff and volunteers.

Highgate Common contains one of a small number of lowland heaths in Staffordshire, which are highly prized as habitats. However, the heath is not the whole of the common and the vegetation is very varied for such a small area. The sandy heath is covered mainly with heather, broom and gorse, all flowering plants that play an important part in hosting invertebrates. There are areas of woodland, with silver birch and pedunculate oak as canopy and common bracken as ground cover, as well as coniferous plantation. There are roadside verges, areas of acidic grassland, patches of bare sand and earth, and small areas of wet heath, including two artificial ponds. The varied habitat results in a wide variety of animal life.

Highgate has 140 recorded species of fauna of which 36 are rare either nationally or regionally, 82 species of invertebrate 20 of which are regionally scarce and 51 are nationally scarce and 14 heathland specialist species. Nationally rare are at least four species of mining bees, creating burrows that are host to the kleptoparasitic cuckoo bees of the genera Nomada and Sphecodes. Also nationally rare are solitary wasps and wingless wasps and species that are regionally important include small red-tailed bumble bees and solitary bees.

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