Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
![]() Allendale Common, moorland at the south-east of the SSSI | |
Location | Northumberland |
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Grid reference | NY820480 , NY790470 |
Coordinates | 54°49′51″N2°17′10″W / 54.8309°N 2.2861°W |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 5,282.81 hectares (20 sq mi) |
Notification | 1998 |
Location map | DEFRA MAGIC map |
Natural England website |
Allendale Moors is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The upland moorland ridge site is listed for its heath, flush and upland grassland which provide a habitat for a nationally important assemblage of moorland breeding birds. [1] [2]
Allendale Moors is situated in the north-east of England, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Alston and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of Allenheads, and between East and West Allen Dales – tributaries of the River Allen – and Nent Dale and Upper Weardale; all found in the south-west of the Northumberland. The u-shaped site, which excludes the valley of the West River Allen from Carrshield northwards, is some 7.4 miles (11.9 km) north to south, and 6 miles (9.7 km) east to west. [1] It is at the northern extent and part of the North Pennines, itself designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it borders three other SSSI, Whitfield Moor, Plenmeller and Ashholme Commons, High Knock Shield Meadow and White Ridge Meadow, and it overlaps Hartley Cleugh SSSI. Hexhamshire Moors SSSI is immediately to the east, separated by the valley of the River East Allen. [2]
The site is composed of upland moorland ridges and plateau, above a number of north to south falling watercourses – between the River Nent to the west and slightly eastwards, the River West Allen; and then between the River West Allen and the River East Allen. The site is at elevations from circa 400 metres (1,300 ft) along the northerly boundaries, to circa 600 metres (2,000 ft) and above on the southern boundary. [1] The terrain is one of the most extensive blanket mires in the north of England, and provides a variety of heath, flush and upland grassland habitats for moorland breeding birds. Underlying the mire is Carboniferous limestone, with abundant lichen-rich outcrops. More generally, Allendale is part of a mineral rich area – the North Pennine Orefield – long-mined and thus littered with spoil heaps of varying ages and states of revegetation, affected by heavy metal contamination, particularly from zinc and lead, and supporting metal tolerant plants such as spring sandwort ( Minuartia verna ). [2]
The moorland has a number of distinct vegetative zones. The plateau is dominated by heather ( Calluna vulgaris ) and hare's-tail cottongrass ( Eriophorum vaginatum ) with local patches of cross-leaved heath ( Erica tetralix ). Other notable species include deergrass ( Trichophorum cespitosum ), crowberry ( Empetrum nigrum ) round-leaved sundew ( Drosera rotundifolia ) and bog mosses such as ( Sphagnum papillosum ) and ( S. capillifolium var. rubellum). [2]
Dry heath and acid grassland is found on peripheral areas of the plateau, the former supporting heather, wavy hair - grass ( Deschampsia flexuosa ) and bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), and with heath rush ( Juncus squarrosus ) dominating the latter, with mat-grass ( Nardus stricta ), wavy hair-grass tormentil, ( Potentilla erecta ) and heath bedstraw ( Galium saxatile ). [2]
The moor has numerous areas of acidic flush characterised by an abundance of soft-rush ( Juncus effusus ), bog moss ( Sphagnum recurvum ) and star-moss ( Polytrichum commune ). There are also a smaller number of species-rich flushes supporting sharp-flowered rush ( Juncus acutiflorus ), common sedge ( Carex nigra ), star sedge ( Carex echinata ), marsh bedstraw ( Galium palustre ), lesser spearwort ( Ranunculus flammula ) and marsh violet ( Viola palustris ). [2]
Great Limestone outcrops support rich lichen communities, including elm gyalecta ( Gyalecta ulmi ), a rare and endanged species, and a number of other species rare in Northumberland. [2]
The open moorland supports a collection of breeding birds considered to be of national importance, and including merlin, golden plover, red grouse, black grouse, short-eared owl and dunlin. The moor and associated grassland supports curlew, snipe, lapwing and redshank. [2]
The land is owned by Allendale Estates, the estate management company of the 4th Viscount Allendale. The majority of the site is common land under the designation "Allendale Common and land at Mohope Moor and Pinch Park". [3] [4]
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately 90 square miles (230 km2) of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Lambert's Castle is an Iron Age hillfort in the county of Dorset in southwest England. Since 1981 it has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on account of its geology, archaeology and ecology. The hillfort is designated a scheduled monument together with a bowl barrow, the sites of a post-medieval fair and a telegraph station. The site was on the Heritage at Risk Register but was removed in 2022 as a result of the Hillforts and Habitats Project.
Scotstown Moor is in the north of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the southwest of England, especially in Devon.
Trodds Copse is a 25.23 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in central Hampshire, notified in 1989. It comprises ancient semi-natural woodland, unimproved meadows and flushes.
Hexhamshire Moors is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Wear Valley district of north-west County Durham and the Tynedale district of south-west Northumberland, England.
Hunder Beck Juniper is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of south-west County Durham, England. It lies between the Balderhead and Blackton Reservoirs and adjoins the Cotherstone Moor SSSI to the south.
Moorhouse and Cross Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Wear Valley district of west County Durham and the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is contiguous with Upper Teesdale SSSI to the east and Appleby Fells SSSI to the south. The area covered extends roughly from an arc through the villages of Gamblesby, Leadgate and Garrigill southward as far as Milburn in the west and Cow Green Reservoir in the east. It includes the whole of Cross Fell, the summit of which, at 893 metres asl, is the highest point in the Pennines and in England outside the Lake District.
Lune Forest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Teesdale district of west Durham, England. In the north, where it adjoins the Upper Teesdale and Appleby Fells SSSIs, it extends from Mickle Fell eastward almost as far as Harter Fell, above the hamlet of Thringarth. Its southern limit is marked by the River Balder, upstream from Balderhead Reservoir, where it shares a boundary with Cotherstone Moor SSSI to the south. Grains o' th' Beck Meadows and Close House Mine SSSIs are entirely surrounded by Lune Forest, but do not form part of it.
Cefn Blaenau is a 23-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in a small upland valley in Carmarthen and Dinefwr, Wales. It was designated an SSSI in 1989, primarily for its flush and spring vegetation as well as the diverse mosaic of unimproved pasture, ‘ffridd’ land, marshy grassland, wet heath, acid grassland, broadleaved woodland, streams, and small rock outcrops. These habitats, which are well represented at this site, have been greatly reduced in north Carmarthenshire due to land improvement, agricultural intensification, and afforestation. Only about 140 hectares of flush and spring vegetation remain in the county.
Allolee to Walltown is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The site, which follows the path of a section of Hadrian's Wall, is notable for an unusually wide range of grassland types growing on thin soil above the Whin Sill, a rock formation peculiar to the Northern Pennines.
Arcot Hall Grasslands and Ponds is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Cramlington in Northumberland, England, notable as the largest lowland species-rich grassland in North East England. The site is composed of grassland, heath, ponds, and associated damp habitats now rare in Northumberland.
Barelees Pond is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is a kettle hole, a deep pond formed in the void remaining after a submerged glacial calf block melted. Barelees Pond is illustrative of vegetative habitat evolution as peat sediment gradually fills the pond.
Bavington Crags is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is an outcropping of the Whin Sill which gives rise to distinctive flora particular to the thin soil conditions on this bedrock.
Bewick and Beanley Moors is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. The moors are asserted to be of national importance by Natural England for the extent, quality and diversity of upland types including heaths, fens, wet grassland, flushes, mires and blanket bogs, together creating an extensive mosaic habitat supporting an exceptional community of amphibians. The moors are important, too, for their relict juniper woodland and scrub.
Briarwood Banks is the name given to a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, North East England. Composed mainly of elm, oak and ash, the site is semi-natural and now recovering from the removal of planted conifers.
Fallowlees Flush is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in mid-Northumberland, England. The steeply sloping site has calcium-rich springs supporting vegetation rare in the county.
Salta Moss is a raised blanket mire which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest ('SSSI') located in the hamlet of Salta, in Cumbria, United Kingdom. It was determined to be of biological interest under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The site, measuring 45.6 hectares, was officially designated in August 1982.