The land is recognised as an SSSI and a Special Area of Conservation, with much of it being owned and maintained by the Ministry of Defence who have a rifle range on its southern edge.

[4] A newspaper report of 1883 noted that the 3rd Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment had been on training there and found the land "unhealthy" and had a distinct lack of drinking water.

[5] In the eventuality more than 1,900 acres (770 ha) was used to build the camp (Queen Elizabeth Barracks) and the ranges,[6] with the surrounding common being drained to provide the land for the military.

[15] In 2016, the British Army announced plans to close the military barracks at Strensall by 2021, but the scheme was put back to 2024, when Natural England objected to the site being used to provide 550 homes.

[17] In March 2024, the MOD announced that the decision to close the Queen Elizabeth Barracks and Towthorpe Lines had been cancelled and both sites will remain in military use.

[18] The surface soil consists mainly of aeolian sands, although some peaty material exists in the lower-lying wet areas of the common.

[23] Epione vespertaria (the dark bordered beauty) can be affected by grazing cattle eating the leaves on which the moth lays its eggs.

The cobwebs of the araneus diadematus spider were collected on the common and then used by the company's master craftsman as graticules or fine markings within telescopes, microscopes and surveyors’ instruments.