Deadman is a 28.8 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (71.2 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the edge of the Blackdown Hills

Blackdown Hills

The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1991....

, near Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated to the west of Ilminster and south of Taunton in the South Somerset district, close to the A303. The village has a population of 559...

 5 miles (8 km) south of Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1987.

Deadman is one of the best remaining examples of a mixed valley mire in Somerset. It contains a rich mosaic of wet heath, bog pools and Birch/Willow carr grading into acid marshy grassland. These communities support several species of plant which are rare
in the county. Ground water issues from numerous springs within the Greensand producing a locally raised water table and shallow peaty surface horizon. It is at these points that bog communities develop characterised by the floating leaves of Bog Pondweed
(Potamogeton polygonifolia), Bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) and Marsh St John's-wort

St John's wort

St John's wort is the plant species Hypericum perforatum, and is also known as Tipton's Weed, Chase-devil, or Klamath weed....

 (Hypericum elodes). In places this wet heath has undergone a transition to Birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

 Betula sp. and Willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

 Salix sp. carr. This provides an
important habitat for breeding Nightingale

Nightingale

The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...

 and Grasshopper Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

The Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds across much of temperate Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering from northwest Africa to India....

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