Eden Gorge

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Eden Gorge
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Cumbria UK location map.svg
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Location within Cumbria
Location Cumbria
Grid reference NY525430
Coordinates 54°46′47″N2°44′24″W / 54.779648°N 2.7400190°W / 54.779648; -2.7400190
Area359.5 acres (1.5 km2; 0.56 sq mi)
Notification 1986

Eden Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest [1] [2] (SSSI) including a 5km length of the valley of the River Eden between Armathwaite and Lazonby in Cumbria, England. This protected area spans between the Settle-Carlisle railway track on the western side to Coombs Wood Forestry Commission site [3] on the eastern side. The protected area includes 30m high cliffs where the River Eden has eroded through New Red Sandstone. The semi-natural woodland is apparently a remnant of the ancient Inglewood forest.

Contents

Details

In the gorge, woodland tree species include sessile oak, birch and hazel. Ground cover in these woodlands include bilberry and a diversity of moss species, with herbs including yellow star-of-Bethlehem. In wetter areas, herbs include marsh hawk's-beard, moschatel, meadow saxifrage and alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage. A diversity of liverworts have been recorded in this protected area including Harpanthus scutatus , Bazzania trilobata , Microlejeunea uliana and Saccogyna viticulosa. [1]

Between the railway and the gorge woodland, there are grassland habitats that contain herbs such as petty whin and dyer's greenweed. [1]

Insect species include the timber-feeding beetles Saperda scalaris and Stenostola ferrea . Bird species include common sandpiper, woodcock, pied flycatcher and wood warbler. Red squirrel and otter have been recorded in this protected area. [1]

Just south of Armathwaite, beside the River Eden, there are five carvings of human faces carved in the sandstone cliff. [4]

Land ownership

Two major institutional landowners that own land within Eden Gorge SSSI are the Forestry Commission and Network Rail. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  2. ↑ "Protected Planet | Eden Gorge". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  3. ↑ "Coombs Wood". Forestry England. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  4. ↑ "Armathwaite". Visit Cumbria. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  5. ↑ "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
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