Daren Fach

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Daren Fach
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A470 below Darren Fach - geograph.org.uk - 740130.jpg
The A470 road below the Darren Fach (Daren Fach) cliff
Wales location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Wales
Location Mid and South Glamorgan
Grid reference SO0191410481
Coordinates 51°47′04″N3°25′24″W / 51.784362°N 3.4233451°W / 51.784362; -3.4233451
InterestBiological
Area12.47 ha
Notification 1 January 1960

Daren Fach is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Mid Glamorgan, in south Wales. [1]

It was designated in 1960, and later revised in 1983. It covers an area of 12.1 hectares (30 acres), and is administered by and within the Brecon Beacons National Park (Bannau Brycheiniog). [2] [3] [4] It is also in the Vaynor community in the north of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, as one of the county borough's four SSSIs. [4] [5] [6] Part of the area is also a nature reserve of the same name, managed both privately and by the Brecknock Wildlife Trust. [7]

A Sorbus leyana (Ley's whitebeam) on Darren Fach Sorbus leyana, Darren Fach (52331312230).jpg
A Sorbus leyana (Ley's whitebeam) on Darren Fach

The SSSI contains open scrub on limestone screes and low limestone cliffs, with woodland (particularly ash woodland) on gentler slopes, and limestone grassland. A major element of the site is the concentration of Sorbus spp located on the southern ends of the Darren Fach (or Daren Fach) cliff (crags). [2] [8] The cliff and nearby Daren Fawr also contain a variety of uncommon plants which contribute to the site's special interest. It notably contains a Chalice Hawkweed (Hieracium cyathis), and a Ley's whitebeam (Sorbus leyana), the latter a rare endemic tree confined to Wales [9] that was described as "one of the rarest trees in the world", with Daren Fach being only one of two sites in Brecknockshire having it. [5] [6] [8] [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ COUNTRYSIDE COUNCIL FOR WALES (1983). "SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST CITATION MERTHYR TYDFIL DAREN FACH" (PDF). Local Environmental Record Centers Wales. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Site of Special Scientific Interest Citation - Merthyr Tydfil - Daren Fach" (PDF). Countryside Council for Wales.
  3. ↑ "Daren Fach - Merthyr Tydfil - Mid Glamorgan" (PDF). Countryside Council for Wales.
  4. 1 2 Council, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. "Countryside Information and Advice". Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Communities in former Mid Glamorgan - Brecon Beacons National Park Local Plan: Proposals for Communities in former Mid Glamorgan" (PDF). Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. May 1999. p. 6.
  6. 1 2 "Merthyr Tydfil Nature Recovery Action Plan 2019-2024 - The Biodiversity & Resilience of Ecosystems Duty S6 Environment (Wales) Act 2016 - Protected sites" (PDF). Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. December 2019. p. 14.
  7. ↑ "Nature Reserves". Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council . Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Daren Fach Site of Special Scientific Interest - Your Special Site and Its Future" (PDF). Countryside Council for Wales.
  9. 1 2 "Sorbus leyana" (PDF). Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
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