| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
 Location of Snelsmore Common. | |
| Area of search | Berkshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SU 460 710 |
| Coordinates | 51°26′10″N 1°20′24″W / 51.436°N 1.340°W |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 104.0 hectares (257 acres) |
| Notification date | 1989 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Snelsmore Common is a 104-hectare (260-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
This is a country park which has diverse habitats, including dry heath, wet heath, bog, birch woods and ancient semi-natural broadleaved woodland. The bog has a 5,000 year old layer of peat which has been studied stratigraphically to show changes in ancient land use and vegetation. An area of wet alder woodland has many lichens, including a rich community which grows on trees, such as Parmelia caperarta, Pertusaria pertusa and Lecanactis abietina.
