Coatham Marsh

Coatham Marsh local nature reserve
Pond on Coatham Marsh Nature Reserve
Location	Coatham, Redcar and Cleveland, England
Nearest town	Redcar
OS grid	NZ585250 [1]
Coordinates	54°36′50″N1°05′13″W / 54.614°N 1.087°W / 54.614; -1.087 [2]
Area	54 hectares (130 acres) [3]
Designated	SSSI – 31 July 2018
Managed by	Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
Website	Official webpage

Coatham Marsh is a 54-hectare (130-acre) nature reserve near to Redcar in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, England. The site is a local nature reserve and part of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI.

History

Coatham Marsh has been pinpointed as the site of one of the last strongholds of northern nobles as they held out against the invasion by William the Conqueror. A battle is believed to have been fought here, in either 1069, or 1070, with the defensive structures remaining visible until the early 20th century. ^{[4] [5]}

The site was used in the 12th and 13th centuries as a place to produce salt from seawater. ^{[6] [7]} The evidence of these saltings can still be found in the present day marsh.

In the early 1840s, as the land remained undeveloped, it was regularly flooded by high tides. ^[8]

The habitat suffered pollution, during the 1960s 70s and 80s, due to waste from local steel and iron plants being dumped onto Coatham Marsh. ^{[9] [10]}

The building of the Redcar steelworks complex in the late 1970s, necessitated the diversion of the railway line to Redcar and Saltburn through the middle of Coatham Marsh, splitting the site in two. ^[11]

The site was owned by British Steel (later Corus, then Tata Steel), and since 1982 it has been managed by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. ^[12] Coatham Marsh was designated an SSSI as part of the Teesside and Cleveland Coast in 2018. ^{[13] [14]}

The site has a small beck called The Fleet which drains south-westwards from Redcar and feeds into the River Tees via Dabholm Gut. The Fleet supplies and drains several reedbed-fringed ponds on Coatham Marsh, and drains an area of 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi). ^{[15] [16]} Coatham Marsh is bounded by the A1085 to the south, Tod Point Road to the north, Locke Park and Coatham to the east, and the former Redcar Steelworks to the west (now known as the Teesworks site). ^{[3] [17]}

Flora and fauna

Otters have been noted on the marsh, having been assumed to be behind the depletion of managed fish stocks in the ponds on the marsh. ^[18] Over 200 species of bird have been noted at the site, including spoonbill, gadwall, wood sandpiper, white-winged black tern, Temminck's stint, black redstart, curlew sandpiper, stone curlew, pochard, reed warbler, reed bunting, water rail, and tufted duck. ^{[3] [19] [10] [20] [21]} Dragon and damselflies noted at the site include the common darter, common blue and large red damselfly. ^[22]

The saline-loving moss bryum marratii (Baltic Byrum), has historically been noted at the site. ^[23] Other plants that have been noted at the site include the northern marsh orchid, the yellow wort, and the bee orchid. ^[10]

References

1. "Coatham Marsh to Newport Bridge" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. p. 1. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
2. "Coatham Marsh". group.rspb.org.uk/. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
3. Robson, Dave (13 March 2015). "War on fly-tipping and litter at popular Redcar nature reserve". Teesside Live. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
4. Page 1968, p. 374.
5. Cockcroft, Janet (1996). Redcar and Coatham; a history to the end of the 19th century. Cleveland: A. A. Southeran. p. 4. ISBN   0-905032-05-5.
6. "Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre | Coatham - a forgotten Yorkshire haven near Redcar". scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
7. Garden, Jane (1994). The Iron Coast. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. p. 4. ISBN   1-85619-427-2.
8. Page 1968, p. 371.
9. Mayes, W. M.; Younger, P. L.; Aumônier, J. (November 2008). "Hydrogeochemistry of Alkaline Steel Slag Leachates in the UK". Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 195 (1–4): 38. Bibcode:2008WASP..195...35M. doi:10.1007/s11270-008-9725-9.
10. Riley, Alex L.; MacDonald, John M.; Burke, Ian T.; Renforth, Phil; Jarvis, Adam P.; Hudson-Edwards, Karen A.; McKie, Jessica; Mayes, William M. (December 2020). "Legacy iron and steel wastes in the UK: Extent, resource potential, and management futures". Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 219: 6. Bibcode:2020JCExp.21906630R. doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2020.106630.
11. "Coatham Marsh - Visit Tees Valley". teesvalley-ca.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
12. Gomes, H. I.; Rogerson, M.; Courtney, R.; Mayes, W. M. (2020). "7: Integrating remediation and resource recovery of industrial alkaline wastes". In Macaskie, Lynn E; Sapsford, Devin J.; Mayes, Will M. (eds.). Resource recovery from wastes; towards a circular economy. London: Royal Society of Chenistry. p. 181. ISBN   978-1-78801-381-9.
13. "Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
14. "Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI". magic.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
15. "Net Zero Teesside Project" (PDF). infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk. July 2022. p. 19. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
16. "Water Environment Improvements Project Evidence Form" (PDF). nwg.co.uk. p. 12. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
17. Harrap, Simon; Redman, Nigel (2010) [2003]. Where to watch birds in Britain (2 ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 440. ISBN   978-1-4081-1059-1.
18. Webber, Chris (17 March 2013). "Otters have devastated our fish stock, say anglers". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
19. Clark, Jacquie A.; Wernham, Chris V.; Balmer, Dawn E.; Adams, Sue Y.; Griffin, Bridget M.; Blackburn, Jeremy R.; Anning, Dave; Milne, Linda J. (May 2001). "Bird ringing in Britain and Ireland in 1999". Ringing & Migration. 20 (3): 269. doi:10.1080/03078698.2001.9674252.
20. May, Derwent (19 May 2001). "Feather report". The Times. No. 67143. p. 65. ISSN   0140-0460.
21. Randall, David (17 July 2010). "Wild Britain: Week 1. The Best of the Wildlife Trust's sites". The Independent. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
22. "WT Coatham Marsh". british-dragonflies.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
23. Porley, Ron (2013). England's rare mosses & liverworts: their history, ecology, and conservation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-691-15871-6.

Sources

• Page, William, ed. (1968). The Victoria history of the county of York, North Riding volume 2. London: Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Research. ISBN   0712903100.