Burham Marsh

Last updated

Burham Marsh
Burham Marsh 4.jpg
Burham Marsh
TypeNature reserve
LocationBurham, Kent
OS grid TQ 714 615
Area36 hectares (89 acres)
Managed byKent Wildlife Trust

Burham Marsh nature reserve is an 11 hectare tidal Reed bed on the River Medway 5 miles northwest of Maidstone. It is just east of Snodland but being on the east bank of the river it is accessed via Burham. [1] It is part the Holborough to Wouldham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest. [2]

Contents

Access

Cars may be parked at Burham Court Church at TQ 717621. A public footpath runs along the river embankment (the sea wall) from which there are good views of most of the reserve and adjacent meadows. [3]

The path is mostly level but soft in wet weather.

Fauna and flora

Breeding species include reed and sedge warbler and water rail. Wintering species include bearded reedling, snipe, redshank and bittern. During the migration periods significant numbers of swallow and sand martin are seen.

The River Medway at this point attracts a variety of birds including kingfisher, cormorant and various species of duck including teal, shelduck and wigeon. The low lying grassland areas provide grazing and roosting areas for large numbers of geese and ducks, including greylag and wigeon. Herons can often be seen fishing in the dykes which drain this area. [4]

Botanical interest includes the rare marsh sow-thistle ( Sonchus palustris ) and marsh mallow ( Althaea officinalis ).

Related Research Articles

Ranworth Broad

Ranworth Broad is a 136-hectare (340-acre) nature reserve on the Norfolk Broads north-east of Norwich in Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. it is part of Bure Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest and Bure Marshes Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and National Nature Reverse. It is also part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.

Breydon Water

Breydon Water is a 514.4-hectare (1,271-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is a Local Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is part of the Berney Marshes and Breydon Water nature reserve, which is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Bridgwater Bay Bay in Bristol Channel

Bridgwater Bay is on the Bristol Channel, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Bridgwater in Somerset, England at the mouth of the River Parrett and the end of the River Parrett Trail. It stretches from Minehead at the southwestern end of the bay to Brean Down in the north. The area consists of large areas of mudflats, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering an area of 3,574.1 hectares since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The risks to wildlife are highlighted in the local Oil Spill Contingency Plan.

Kent Wildlife Trust Conservation charity in the UK

Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and to "ensure that 30% of Kent and Medway – land and sea – is managed to create a healthy place for wildlife to flourish". In 2016 it had thirty-one thousand members and an annual income of £4 million. KWT manages over sixty-five nature reserves, of which twenty-four are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two are national nature reserves, nine are Nature Conservation Review sites, seven are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, seven are local nature reserves, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, thirteen are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one is a scheduled monument.

Cotswold Water Park

The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest marl lake system, straddling the Wiltshire–Gloucestershire border, northwest of Cricklade and south of Cirencester. There are 180 lakes, spread over 42 square miles (110 km2).

Nene Washes

Nene Washes is a 1,522.1-hectare (3,761-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the bank of the River Nene east of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area and a Nature Conservation Review site. An area of 280 hectares is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The total area of the Ramsar site is 1,517 hectares.

Blue Bell Hill

Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. Settlements on the hill include the Walderslade suburb of Chatham and the villages of Blue Bell Hill and Kit's Coty. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries much of the hill was quarried for chalk.

Oare Marshes

Oare Marshes is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserve, Ramsar internationally important wetland site, Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits is a 73.7-hectare (182-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre.

Burham Down

Burham Down is a 110-hectare (270-acre) nature reserve between Maidstone and Chatham in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation.

Ashleworth Ham Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Ashleworth Ham is a 104.73-hectare (258.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a large area of grassland on the Severn floodplain, north of Ashleworth in Gloucestershire, England. It is registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and was notified in 1974 and renotified in 1985. Ashleworth Ham received this designation because it is one of three sites in the Severn Vale where migratory waterfowl winter.

Ingrebourne Marshes

Ingrebourne Marshes are a 74.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve includes a small part of the SSSI west of the River Ingrebourne. The site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust

Turnford and Cheshunt Pits

The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres. It is part of the Lee Valley Special Protection Area.

Holborough to Burham Marshes

Holborough to Burham Marshes is a 149.8-hectare (370-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest Kent. Holborough Marshes and Burham Marsh are managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust.

South Thames Estuary and Marshes

South Thames Estuary and Marshes is a 5,289-hectare (13,070-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches between Gravesend and the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar internationally important wetland site and Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.

Holborough Marshes

Holborough Marshes is a 35-hectare (86-acre) nature reserve on the outskirts of Snodland, south-west of Chatham in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of Holborough to Burham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Cantley Marshes

Cantley Marshes is a 272.1-hectare (672-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Norwich in Norfolk. It is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, It is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, The Broads Special Area of Conservation and the Mid-Yare National Nature Reserve.

Yare Broads and Marshes

Yare Broads and Marshes is a 744.5-hectare (1,840-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Norwich in Norfolk, England. Part of the site, is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and most of it is in the Mid-Yare National Nature Reserve. It is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation. Two ares are Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserves, Strumpshaw Fen and Surlingham Church Marsh.

Tophill Low

Tophill Low is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is also an active water treatment works, operated by Yorkshire Water. It lies adjacent to the River Hull approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Driffield, and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the village of Watton. The site, which was designated a SSSI in 1989, consists of two artificial reservoirs. The nature reserve extends further to a total area of 300 acres.

Filsham Reedbed British nature reserve

Filsham Reedbed is an 18.5-hectare (46-acre) Local Nature Reserve on the western outskirts of St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex. It is owned by Hastings Borough Council and managed by Sussex Wildlife Trust. It is part of Combe Haven Site of Special Scientific Interest.

References

  1. "Burham Marsh Nature Reserve". Tour Maidstone. Maidstone Borough Council. Archived from the original on 15 February 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  2. "Designated Sites View: Holborough to Burham Marshes". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  3. "Burham Marsh". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. "Burham Marsh". Rural Ways. The Southern and South East England Tourist Board . Retrieved 4 September 2008.

Coordinates: 51°19′37″N0°27′32″E / 51.327°N 0.459°E / 51.327; 0.459