Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Norfolk Suffolk |
---|---|
Grid reference | TL 822 872 [1] |
Interest | Biological Geological |
Area | 18,126 hectares [1] |
Notification | 2000 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
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. [1] [2] It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. [3] [4] It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites, Beeches Pit, Icklingham and High Lodge. [5] [6] Barton Mills Valley is a Local Nature Reserve in the south-west corner of the site. [7]
Woodlarks and nightjars breed on this site in internationally important numbers. There are also several nationally rare vascular plants and invertebrates on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Geological sites provide evidence of the environmental and human history of East Anglia during the Middle Pleistocene. [8]
Major landowners that own land within Breckland Forest SSSI include the Ministry of Defence, the Forestry Commission and the Crown Estate. [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.
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.
Foxhole Heath is an 85.2-hectare (211-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Eriswell 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.
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
Berner's Heath is a 236.9-hectare (585-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Icklingham in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, a Special Area of Conservation, and a 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 Farmland is a 13,392.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
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.
Deadman's Grave, Icklingham is a 127.3-hectare (315-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east 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.
Eriswell Low Warren is a 7.4-hectare (18-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Eriswell in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
Pakefield to Easton Bavents is a 735.4-hectare (1,817-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the Suffolk coast between Lowestoft and Southwold. It includes three Geological Conservation Review sites, and part of the Benacre National Nature Reserve. An area of 326.7 hectares is the Benacre to Easton Bavents Lagoons Special Area of Conservation, and 470.6 hectares is the Benacre to Easton Bavents Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The site is also partly in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
How Hill Track is a 3.1-hectare (7.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Mildenhall in Suffolk. It is in the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
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.
Weather and Horn Heaths, Eriswell is a 133.3-hectare (329-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Eriswell in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area
Rockhall Wood Pit, Sutton is a 5.3-hectare (13-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Shottisham in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site both for its quaternary and neogene deposits.
Cranberry Rough is an 81.1-hectare (200-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the parish of Hockham, east of Attleborough in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and the Great Eastern Pingo Trail, which is a Local Nature Reserve, goes through the site. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the Breckland 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. 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.
Broome Heath Pit is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Ditchingham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and part of Broome Heath Local Nature Reserve