Allendale Moors

Allendale Moors
	Site of Special Scientific Interest
	Allendale Common, moorland at the south-east of the SSSI
	Location within Northumberland
Area of Search	Northumberland
Grid reference	NY820480 , NY790470
Coordinates	54°49′51″N2°17′10″W / 54.8309°N 2.2861°W 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

Last updated March 08, 2019

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]

A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I".

Northumberland is a county in North East England. The northernmost county of England, it borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south and the Scottish Borders to the north. To the east is the North Sea coastline with a 64 miles (103 km) path. The county town is Alnwick, although the County council is based in Morpeth.

Location and natural features

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]

Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite being at such an altitude and in a remote location, the town is easily accessible via the many roads which link the town to Weardale valley, Teesdale, Hartside Pass as well as the Tyne valley. Historically part of Cumberland, Alston lies within the North Pennines, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is surrounded by beautiful views of the surrounding fells and the South Tyne Valley. Much of the town centre is a designated Conservation Area which includes several listed buildings.

Allenheads is a village in Northumberland, England, situated in the Pennines to the north of Weardale. Allenheads is situated 8 miles (13 km) further along the river East Allen from Allendale. Being a former lead mining community, it is widely believed that it would not have existed if it wasn't for the industry, it being too high for other types of settlement.

The River Allen is a river in the English county of Northumberland. The Allen is a tributary of the River South Tyne. It gives its name to Allendale. Allen Banks and Staward Gorge is upstream on this river from the confluence with the Tyne.

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]

Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat gives the habitat type its name. Blanket bogs are found extensively throughout the northern hemisphere - well-studied examples are found in Ireland and Britain, but vast areas of the Russian and North American tundra also qualify as blanket bogs.

The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period 358.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Mya. The name Carboniferous means "coal-bearing" and derives from the Latin words carbō ("coal") and ferō, and was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822.

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). A closely related rock is dolostone, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO₃)₂. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolostone was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones.

Vegetation

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]

Eriophorum vaginatum, the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is a 30–60 cm high tussock-forming plant with erect solitary spikelets.

Erica tetralix, the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe such as Austria and Switzerland. In bogs, wet heaths and damp coniferous woodland, E. tetralix can become a dominant part of the flora. It has also been introduced to parts of North America.

<i>Trichophorum cespitosum</i> species of plant

Trichophorum cespitosum, commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Scirpus cespitosus, but was changed to Trichophorum cespitosum by Carl Johan Hartman in 1849.

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]

<i>Deschampsia flexuosa</i> species of plant, wavy hair-grass

Deschampsia flexuosa, commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America.

Vaccinium myrtillus is a species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, commonly called "bilberry", "wimberry", "whortleberry", or European blueberry. It has much in common with the American blueberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry, to distinguish it from other Vaccinium relatives. Regional names include blaeberry, urts (Cornwall), hurtleberry, huckleberry, wimberry, whinberry, winberry, blueberry, and fraughan.

Potentilla erecta is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the rose family (Rosaceae).

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]

Juncus effusus, with the common names common rush or soft rush, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the family Juncaceae. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to Juncus interior.

Polytrichum commune is a species of moss found in many regions with high humidity and rainfall. The species can be exceptionally tall for a moss with stems often exceeding 30 cm (12 in) though rarely reaching 70 cm (27.5 in), but it is most commonly found at shorter lengths of 5 to 10 cm. It is widely distributed throughout temperate and boreal latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere and also found in Mexico, several Pacific Islands including New Zealand, and also in Australia. It typically grows in bogs, wet heathland and along forest streams.

<i>Juncus acutiflorus</i> species of plant

Juncus acutiflorus, also called sharp-flowered rush, is a rush or a grassy plant of the genus Juncus. As the name suggests, the plant has notable sharp-looking flowers, flowering between July and September.

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]

Fauna

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]

Ownership

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]

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References

1 2 3 "MAGIC Map Application - Allendle Moors". DEFRA MAGIC Map. DEFRA.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Allendate Moors SSSI Citation" (PDF). Natural England.
↑ "Lord Allendale, head of Allendale's 20,000 acre estate". The Journal. 6 June 2012.
↑ "MAGIC Map Application - Allendale Common and land at Mohope Moor and Pinch Park". DEFRA MAGIC Map. DEFRA.

External links

Natural England SSSI record for Allendale Moors

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[magic-1] 1 2 3 "MAGIC Map Application - Allendle Moors". DEFRA MAGIC Map. DEFRA.

[Citation-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Allendate Moors SSSI Citation" (PDF). Natural England.

[journal-3] "Lord Allendale, head of Allendale's 20,000 acre estate". The Journal. 6 June 2012.

[magic2-4] "MAGIC Map Application - Allendale Common and land at Mohope Moor and Pinch Park". DEFRA MAGIC Map. DEFRA.