Heather, Birds, and Butterflies
Witley and Milford Commons lie south of Godalming, a landscape of heathland, woodland glades, and open ground that once stretched unbroken across much of western Surrey. Most of England's lowland heath has been lost to development, forestry, and farming, making the surviving fragments some of the most ecologically valuable land in the country.
The commons support breeding populations of nightjars, woodlarks, and Dartford warblers – all ground-nesting birds that depend on open heathland. Nightjars arrive from Africa in May and can be heard churring at dusk on warm summer evenings. Woodlarks sing from exposed perches through the spring. These are shy, specialist birds that cannot survive without this specific habitat.
Rare Invertebrates
Mare Hill Common, part of the Witley complex, supports the silver-studded blue butterfly, whose caterpillars depend on heather and cross-leaved heath. The sand lizard, one of Britain's rarest reptiles, also breeds here. The commons are part of the Wealden Heaths National Nature Reserve, a collaborative project linking heathlands across Surrey and Sussex.
The purple emperor butterfly – elusive, iridescent, and famously difficult to spot – breeds in the woodland on the commons. National Trust rangers have worked for decades to protect the sallow trees on which the caterpillars feed, making Witley one of the best sites in England for seeing this spectacular insect.
Management
Maintaining heathland requires constant work. Without intervention, scrub and secondary woodland would reclaim the open ground within a generation. The Trust uses a combination of traditional grazing, scrub clearance, and controlled burning to keep the habitat in the condition that its specialised wildlife requires.
