[1][2] A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

[4] The site is heath and grassland, mainly on acidic soils, with areas of secondary woodland and wet hollows.

There are heathland plants such as sheep's sorrel, tormentil, harebell, ling and heath bedstraw, while wet areas have fen vegetation including water mint and yellow iris.

[6] An 18th century rabbit warren and a Bronze Age burial mound at Hut Hill are evidence of thousands of years of human occupation in the area.

[7] It is the site where four long-distance footpaths meet: Angles Way, Icknield Way, Iceni Way and Peddars Way (part of the Norfolk Coast Path, a National Trail).