Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Norfolk, England |
---|---|
Grid reference | TL 865 813 [1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 69.1 hectares (171 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1986 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Barnham Cross Common is a 69.1-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of Thetford in Norfolk, England. [1] [2] It is owned by Thetford Town Council and is registered common land. [3] It is also a Local Nature Reserve [4] [5] and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1. [6] It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation [7] and Special Protection Area. [8]
This grassland and heath common has diverse habitats and a rich flora, including several nationally rare plants. There are nearly a hundred species of birds, including sixty which breed on the site, and a wide range of invertebrates. [3]
The common is open to the public. Part of the land designated as Barnham Cross Common SSSI is owned by the Ministry of Defence. [9]
Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a landscape region it is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that lies mostly in the south of the county of Norfolk but also in the north of Suffolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the east of another unusual habitat, the Fens, and to the south west of the Broads. The typical tree of this area is the Scots pine. Breckland is one of the driest areas in England.
Wayland Wood is a 31.7-hectare (78-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near to Watton in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Rex Graham Reserve is a 2.8-hectare (6.9-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Mildenhall in Suffolk. It is a Special Area of Conservation, and part of the Breckland Special Protection Area. It was formerly managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
Great Eastern Pingo Trail is 9.2 kilometres long footpath along a disused railway line north of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) Local Nature Reserve, and it crosses three Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Thompson Water, Carr and Common, Breckland Forest and Cranberry Rough, Hockham. It also crosses Thompson Common, which is a nature reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It further crosses Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area.
Thompson Water, Carr and Common is a 154.7-hectare (382-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk, England. Most of it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as Thompson Common. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is crossed by the Great Eastern Pingo Trail Local Nature Reserve.
Wangford Warren and Carr is a 67.8-hectare (168-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Brandon and Lakenheath in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area An area of 15 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust
East Wretham Heath is a 141.1-hectare (349-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. it is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Weeting Heath is a 141.8-hectare (350-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Thetford in Norfolk, England, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a National Nature Reserve. It is also part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Barnham Heath is a 78.6-hectare (194-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Barnham, a village south of Thetford in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds
Breckland Forest is an 18,126 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites, Beeches Pit, Icklingham and High Lodge. Barton Mills Valley is a Local Nature Reserve in the south-west corner of the site.
Cavenham–Icklingham Heaths is a 419 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Icklingham in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Cavenham Heath is a 203.1 hectare National Nature Reserve.
Little Heath, Barnham lies south-west of Barnham, Suffolk. Much of the area is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which almost surrounds the former chemical weapon store and filling station (FFD1)
Thetford Heaths is a 270.6-hectare (669-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and parts of it are a national nature reserve, and a Geological Conservation Review, It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area A large part of this dry heathland site is calcareous grassland, and some areas are grazed by sheep or rabbits. There are several nationally rare plants and an uncommon heathland bird, and many lichens and mosses.
Bridgham and Brettenham Heaths is a 439.9-hectare (1,087-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. Brettenham Heath is a National Nature Reserve.
Cranwich Camp is a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Stanford Training Area SSSI is part of the British Army Stanford Training Area. It is a 4,678-hectare (11,560-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is also part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Thetford Golf Course and Marsh is a 122.3-hectare (302-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.