Heyshott Down

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox SSSI

|image=Heyshott Down (2).jpg

|image_caption =

|name= Heyshott Down

|aos= West Sussex

|interest=Biological

|gridref={{gbmappingsmall|SU 897 168}}

|area={{convert|42.6|ha|acre|abbr=off}}

|notifydate=1986

|map=[https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000435%27 Magic Map]

}}

Heyshott Down is a {{convert| 42.6 |ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Midhurst in West Sussex.{{cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000435&SiteName=&countyCode=46&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Heyshott Down | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate = 26 May 2019}}{{cite web|url= https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000435%27|title=Map of Heyshott Down|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=26 May 2019}} It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.{{cite book|editor-first=Derek |editor-last=Ratcliffe |title=A Nature Conservation Review|volume=2 |page= 120|authorlink=Derek Ratcliffe |publisher= Cambridge University Press|location =Cambridge, UK |year=1977|isbn= 0521-21403-3 }}

This site on the South Downs is unimproved chalk grassland, which is a nationally rare habitat. The grassland is plant-rich and it is nationally important for mosses and liverworts, such as Antitrichia curtipendula, Hylocomium brevirostre and Rhytidiadelphus loreus. The site is also nationally important for spiders and harvestmen and it is one of only two sites in Britain where the spider Tapinocyboides pygmaea has been recorded.{{cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000435.pdf |title=Heyshott Down citation|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=26 May 2019}}

There is access by footpaths from Cocking and Heyshott.