Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | West Sussex |
---|---|
Grid reference | SZ 814 954 [1] |
Interest | Biological Geological |
Area | 200.6 hectares (496 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1986 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Bracklesham Bay is a 200.6-hectare (496-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site. [3] [4]
It is a coastal bay on the west side of the Manhood Peninsula in West Sussex, England. The bay looks out onto the English Channel and the Isle of Wight is visible from the beach, as is the Nab Tower lighthouse and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. The villages of Bracklesham and East Wittering are situated in the centre of the bay and it is bordered by the town of Selsey on the southern/eastern tip, and the village of West Wittering on the west side.
This stretch of foreshore has unimproved grazing pastures, shingle, salt marsh, reed beds and ditches. The pasture is subject to seasonal flooding and it is important for its breeding and overwintering birds. The site has highly fossiliferous Eocene (56 to 34 million years ago) beds with over 160 fish species. There are also much more recent Middle Pleistocene marine deposits dating to around 500,000 years ago which provide a record of changes in sea levels. [5]
The earth embankment at Medmerry holding back the sea was originally built in the 1960s; however the coastline in the area was subject to frequent flooding events which were becoming unsustainable. [6] The scheme arose out of consultations from the 2008 Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy with the managed realignment scheme being adopted. [7] In 2013 the Environment Agency completed the new 7 km inland floodbank and breach in the shingle wall to providing flood relief and this enabled creation of the form the Medmerry RSPB nature reserve. The scheme cost £28 million. As of 2013 [update] it is the largest open-coast scheme in Europe and is understood to be one of the most sustainable projects the Environment Agency has completed. [8] [9]
Chichester Harbour is a 3,733.5-hectare (9,226-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Chichester in Hampshire and West Sussex. The SSSI is part of Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. It is also part of Chichester and Langstone Harbours Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site and two areas are Local Nature Reserves.
Pagham Harbour is a 629-hectare (1,550-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts of Bognor Regis in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, a Nature Conservation Review site, a Ramsar site, a Special Protection Area and a Marine Conservation Zone. An area of 599.1 hectares is a Local Nature Reserve.
Slapton Ley is a lake on the south coast of Devon, England, separated from Start Bay by a shingle beach, known as Slapton Sands.
West Wittering is a village and civil parish situated on the Manhood Peninsula in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies near the mouth of Chichester Harbour on the B2179 road 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southwest of Chichester close to the border with Hampshire. The sandy beach has been described as having excellent water quality.
East Wittering or East Wittering and Bracklesham is a civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. The parish lies on the coast of the Manhood Peninsula, approximately six miles (9.6 km) southwest of Chichester. It comprises the built up areas of Bracklesham and the eastern half of East Wittering, the western half of which lies within the boundary of West Wittering civil parish. To the east of Bracklesham used to be East Thorney, a detached portion of East Wittering separated from the body of the parish by a very narrow strip of Earnley. East Thorney is now under the sea off Bracklesham.
Whitecliff Bay and Bembridge Ledges is a 131.6-hectare (325-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest that lies around the coastline of the easternmost part of the Isle of Wight from the Bembridge harbour entrance in the north around Foreland to Whitecliff Bay to the south. The site was notified in 1955 for both its biological and geological features.
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a 10,172.9-hectare (25,138-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from New Romney in Kent to Winchelsea in East Sussex. An area of 5,129.5 hectares is a Special Protection Area, an area of 3,141.1 hectares is a Special Area of Conservation, and an area of 6,377.6 hectares is a Ramsar Site, a wetland site designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Part of the site is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, parts are Geological Conservation Review sites, part is a Local Nature Reserve, and part is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve, and part is a National Nature Reserve.
The Manhood Peninsula is the southwest of West Sussex in England. It has the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north. It is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland being Selsey Bill.
Alde–Ore Estuary is a 2,534 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the Suffolk coast between Aldeburgh and Bawdsey, and also includes parts of the Alde, Ore and Butley Rivers. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It includes two Geological Conservation Review sites, "Orfordness and Shingle Street" and "The Cliff, Gedgrave", and two nature reserves managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Alde Mudflats and Simpson's Saltings. The coastal part of the site is Orfordness-Havergate, a National Nature Reserve, and Orford Ness is managed by the National Trust, while Havergate Island is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Dingle Marshes is a 93-hectare (230-acre) wildlife reserve on the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. The reserve is located between Dunwich and Walberswick, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Southwold. The marshes make up part of the Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve along with reserves at Walberswick and Hen Reedbeds. They are owned jointly by the RSPB and Suffolk Wildlife Trust and are managed by these two organisations and Natural England. The site is in the Dunwich Heaths and Marshes Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, the Minsmere-Walberswick Ramsar internationally important wetland site, the Minsmere to Walberswick Heaths and Marshes Special Area of Conservation, and the Minsmere-Walberswick Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
Sandwich and Pegwell Bay is a 615-hectare (1,520-acre) nature reserve in Kent, managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is a National Nature Reserve, and it includes a Geological Conservation Review site, Prince's Beachlands Local Nature Reserve and two Special Areas of Conservation, Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast. It is part of Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. It is also of Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest and Sandwich/Pegwell Bay Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.
Rye Harbour LNR is a 325.4-hectare (804-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Rye in East Sussex. The site is part of the 465-hectare (1,150-acre) nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. It is also part of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest and Dungeness Special Area of Conservation.
Selsey, East Beach is a 1.7-hectare (4.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Selsey in West Sussex, United Kingdom. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Felpham SSSI is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bognor Regis in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Marehill Quarry is a 1.1-hectare (2.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Pulborough in West Sussex. It is owned and managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary is a 1,077.3-hectare (2,662-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lymington in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites. Three areas are local nature reserves, Boldre Foreshore, Sturt Pond and Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes; the latter site is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Part of it is North Solent National Nature Reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Parts of it are in Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation.
Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary is a 585.9-hectare (1,448-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the coast between Southampton and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. Three areas are Local Nature Reserves, Chessel Bay, Hook with Warsash and Mercury Marshes. One area is Hamble Common Camp, a Scheduled Monument.
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