{{Short description|Protected area in Derbyshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} thumb|Tideslow Rake '''Tideslow Rake''' is a Site of Special Scientific Interest<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=SSSI detail |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1005757&SiteName=tideslow%20rake&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |access-date=26 September 2025 |website=designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tideslow Rake |url=https://www.protectedplanet.net/140762 |access-date=26 September 2025 |website=Protected Planet }}</ref> within Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England. It is located 2km north of the village of Tideswell and 900m south of the village of Little Hucklow. The soils at this site are rich in heavy metals because of a long history of lead mining there. The area is protected because of the plants and lichens that are adapted to the high levels of contaminants.
== Biology == Plant species at this site that are associated with heavy-metal deposits include spring sandwort, mountain pansy and moonwort. <ref name=":0" />
In areas where the soil has lower levels of heavy metals, plant species include eyebright, lady’s bedstraw, rough hawkbit, salad burnet, limestone bedstraw, hairy rock cress, meadow saxifrage, woolly thistle and early-purple orchid.<ref name=":0" />
Lichen species at this site tend to be adapted to acidic heathlands, reflecting the vegetation that used to be present here. These lichen species include ''Cetraria islandica'', ''Cladonia bacillaris'' (considered part of ''Cladonia macilenta''), ''Cladonia scabriuscula'',[https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/resources/species-accounts/cladonia-scabriuscula] ''Verrucaria xyloxena'' (genus ''Verrucaria''), ''Vezdaea'' ''rheocarpa'' (genus ''Vezdaea'') and ''Bacidina indigens'' (genus ''Bacidina'').<ref name=":0" />
Ecological studies at this site have considered the different strategies used by plants to survive on metal contaminated soils.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baker |first=A. J. M. |date=1987 |title=Metal Tolerance |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1987.tb04685.x |journal=New Phytologist |language=en |volume=106 |issue=s1 |pages=93–111 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1987.tb04685.x |bibcode=1987NewPh.106S..93B |issn=1469-8137 }}</ref>
== Scheduled monument == This site shows a range of features associated with mining and also a limekiln whose quicklime production was used for blasting. A gin-circle marking the historic position of horse-powered winding gear is also present.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tideslow Rake lead rake and lime kiln, Little Hucklow - 1014591 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1014591 |access-date=26 September 2025 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire Category:Protected areas of Derbyshire Category:Peak District Category:Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire