Editing Strensall (section)

==Geography==

The soil is sand and foxmole laid over a subsoil of white and grey sandstone. The land lies for the most part about 50&nbsp;ft above sea level. The [[River Foss]] flows from the north-east of the village in a south and south-westerly direction towards [[Towthorpe, York|Towthorpe]]. It is crossed by three bridges. About a quarter of a mile east of the village is the disused Strensall station on the York and Scarborough branch of the North Eastern railway.<ref name="Village History"/>

===Strensall Common===

[[File:Military firing range - geograph.org.uk - 380385.jpg|thumb|Strensall Common]]
Strensall Common lies to the east of the village and forms part of the surrounding lowland heath. There are a number of different habitats, such as wet heath, dry heath and birch/oak woodland with areas of standing water. There are over 150 plant species including, [[marsh cinquefoil]], [[Gentiana pneumonanthe|marsh gentian]], [[round-leaved sundew]] and [[petty whin]].

There are over 60 species of bird including [[Eurasian curlew|curlew]], [[stonechat]], [[whinchat]], and both [[European green woodpecker|green]] and [[great spotted woodpecker]]. Amongst the numerous insects to be found are [[green hairstreak|green]] and [[purple hairstreak]]s, the [[Epione vespertaria|dark-bordered beauty]], [[bog bush cricket]] and [[Lampyris noctiluca|glowworm]]. Other wildlife seen here include [[red fox]], [[European hare]] and [[Eurasian harvest mouse|harvest mouse]]. [[Hebridean (sheep)|Hebridean sheep]] and [[Highland cattle]] graze during summer to keep down vegetation.

The site is maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ywt.org.uk/nature_reserves.php?id=55|title=Strensall Common|access-date=17 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129061909/http://www.ywt.org.uk/nature_reserves.php?id=55|archive-date=29 November 2010}}</ref>