In 2008, the residents of Cranham faced a prospect that galvanised the entire village: their common — 24 hectares of unimproved limestone grassland at the heart of the settlement — came up for sale for the first time in 150 years. Unimproved grassland, never ploughed or reseeded, is one of England's rarest habitats, and Cranham Common is a particularly fine example. It supports roughly 180 species of wildflower, including common spotted, pyramidal, fly, lesser butterfly and early purple orchids, alongside limestone specialists like milkwort, rock-rose and wild thyme. More than half of England's butterfly species have been recorded here, including the small blue and chalkhill blue. The rufous grasshopper, a scarce insect largely confined to southern chalk and limestone sites, also thrives on the common, alongside glowworms, slowworms and adders. Determined not to lose this to development or neglect, the village pulled together with support from two local trusts to raise the £120,000 purchase price. The Cranham Common Trust was created as the new custodian. The common's history as shared land stretches back centuries — by the early fourteenth century, tenants of the Brimpsfield estate already held common pasture rights over these slopes. That the village fought to preserve this tradition seven hundred years later says something about the hold this landscape has on the people who live in it.
“The rufous grasshopper, a scarce insect largely confined to southern chalk and limestone sites, also thrives on the common, alongside glowworms, slowworms and adders.”
