Farleton Knott

Last updated
Farleton Knott
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Cumbria UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Cumbria
Location Cumbria
Grid reference SD545800
Coordinates 54°12′49″N2°41′57″W / 54.213701°N 2.6991933°W / 54.213701; -2.6991933
Area702 acres (2.8 km2; 1.1 sq mi)
Notification 1988

Farleton Knott is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) [1] [2] in Cumbria, England. It is located 6km west of Kirkby Lonsdale, near Farleton. This protected area includes an exceptional limestone pavement on the top of a hill called Farleton Fell. Farleton Knott SSSI includes within its boundary Newbiggin Crags, Holme Park Fell and a National Nature Reserve called Clawthorpe Fell (Clawthorpe Fell is an island of limestone pavement within a quarry called Holme Park Quarry). [3] [4]

Contents

Biology

Farleton Knott is a hill composed of carboniferous limestone where there is a limestone pavement. There are a range of habitats including open pavement, and pavement covered in scrub or woodland, calcareous grassland and limestone scree slopes. Herb species in this protected area include the orchid dark-red helleborine as well as bloody crane's-bill. Fern species include limestone fern, holly fern, rigid buckler-fern, maidenhair spleenwort, hart's-tongue fern and wall-rue. In calcareous grassland, herb species include thyme, dropwort, limestone bedstraw and squinancywort. [1]

Scrub and tree cover is rather sparse at Farleton Knott SSSI because of grazing pressure, but ash, sycamore, hazel and hawthorn are frequent. Yew and juniper are also present. [1]

Geology

Farleton Knott SSSI is exceptional because limestone pavements are present on all sides of an isolated hill that stood in the path of glacial ice movement in the Pleistocene epoch. Some pavements are horizontal (e.g. Newbiggin Crags) and some pavements are inclined (e.g. Farleton Knott). Weathering has produced rundkarren (rounded channels formed when rock is covered by soil) and kamenitza (long standing pools on the rock surface) in this protected area. [1]

Land ownership

Part of the land within Farleton Knott SSSI is owned by the National Trust (this area is called Holme Park Fell). [5] Both Holme Park Quarry and Clawthorpe Fell are owned by Aggregate Industries and have been managed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust since 2021. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitbarrow</span> Natural feature in Cumbria, England

Whitbarrow is a hill in Cumbria, England, designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and national nature reserve, forming part of the Morecambe Bay Pavements Special Area of Conservation due to its supporting some of the best European examples of natural limestone habitats. Also known as Whitbarrow Scar, the hill lies about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) southwest of Kendal, just north of the A590 road, close to the village of Witherslack. Part of the site is a local nature reserve called Whitbarrow Scar. Whitbarrow's summit, known as Lord's Seat, is at 215 metres (705 ft) and has a prominence of 182 metres (597 ft), classifying it as a Marilyn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hutton Roof Crags</span> Hill in Cumbria, England

Hutton Roof Crags is a hill in southeastern Cumbria in northwest England, located near to the village of Hutton Roof. It has extensive areas of limestone pavement as well as grassland and woodland. The hill forms the Hutton Roof Crags Site of Special Scientific Interest and is part of the Morecambe Bay Pavements Special Area of Conservation. A significant proportion of the UK's 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) of limestone pavement is to be found on Hutton Roof Crags and the neighbouring Farleton Knott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheddar Complex</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England

The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3-hectare (1,090-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midger</span>

Midger is a 65.7-hectare (162-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest straddling the border of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1984. Since the last revision in 1974, the size has been reduced to a 56-hectare (140-acre) site. It lies east of Hillesley, Gloucestershire and north of Hawkesbury Upton, South Gloucestershire. It is at the head of the Kilcott Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clints Crags</span>

Clints Crags is a small fell in the north of the English Lake District near Blindcrake, Cumbria. It has its own chapter in Alfred Wainwright's The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. He describes a circular walk from Blindcrake, and laments that at the time of writing (1974): "This is a walk on public footpaths, but until somebody removes the barbed wire and other obstacles to legitimate progress it can be recommended only to gymnasts." It reaches 804 feet (245 m). Since the time of writing the barbed wire has been removed and the path to the summit is clear of obstructions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warton Crag</span> Hill near Warton, Lancaster, Lancashire, UK

Warton Crag is a limestone hill in north west Lancashire, England. It lies to the north west of Warton village, in City of Lancaster district. At 163 metres (535 ft) it is the highest point in the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is listed as a "HuMP" or "Hundred Metre Prominence", having a "drop" or "prominence" of 126 metres (413 ft) with its parent being Hutton Roof Crags. Two areas are Local Nature Reserves, called Warton Crag and Warton Crag Quarry. Different sections are owned by Lancashire County Council, the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, Lancaster City Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grass Wood, Wharfedale</span> Ancient woodland in North Yorkshire, England

Grass Wood is an ancient woodland of 88 hectares in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, that has an exceptional ground flora of woodland wildflowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stenders Quarry</span> Biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Stenders Quarry is a 2.8-hectare (6.9-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1990. The site is designated as an SSSI for its important geological features, although there is also a diversity of plants and animals recorded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wotton Hill</span> Hill in Gloucestershire, England

Wotton Hill is a hill on the edge of the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire, England, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of Wotton-under-Edge. The Cotswold Way passes over the hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill is a 42.33-hectare (104.6-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 as an SSSI and Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common</span> Protected area in Gloucestershire, England

Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common is a 63.8-hectare (158-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. There are five units of assessment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minchinhampton Common</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire

Minchinhampton Common is a 182.7-hectare (451-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodborough Common, Gloucestershire</span> Biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Rodborough Common is a 116.0-hectare (287-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 as an SSSI and a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS). The Common is also a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarry Moor</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Quarry Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, at the south edge of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, and adjacent to the A61 road. It contains an outcrop of Magnesian Limestone, exposed by former quarrying. 255 million years ago this limestone was the peripheral sediment of a tropical sea. The land was donated in 1945 to the people of Ripon by the town's mayor, Alderman Thomas Fowler Spence, a varnish manufacturer. The land was notified as an SSSI in 1986 because its calcareous grassland supported a large diversity of plant species. The site features a Schedule 8 protected plant, thistle broomrape. The land is protected as a nature reserve, and it is also managed as a recreational area. Therefore, its calcareous grass area is fenced off for protection and study, but it also contains a car park, information signs, a children's play area, accessible paths, benches, and dog waste bins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farnham Mires</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Farnham Mires is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, to the west of the village of Farnham, North Yorkshire, England. It consists of a spring-fed marshy fen or mire with reeds and sedge, and drier calcareous grassland containing a diverse range of flora. It has a history of poaching and fox hunting, but since the late 19th century, the attention of botanists has been drawn to its large variety of flowering plants. It has received some consideration on this account since 1944, and from 1954 it was designated SSSI status. This site has no facilities, and is not open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Asby Scar</span> Limestone pavement in Cumbria

Great Asby Scar is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and National Nature Reserve in Cumbria, UK. It is an area of limestone pavement, south of the village of Great Asby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripon Parks</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Ripon Parks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated north of Ripon, to the west of the River Ure and to the east of the village of North Stainley, in North Yorkshire, England. It was once part of the land held since the Middle Ages as a deer park by the archbishops of York and the canons of Ripon. The site was designated as an SSSI in 1983, because its varied habitats are valued for their breeding birds, amphibians and varied flora. The woods here are "of note" for the parasitic flowers of common toothwort and yellow star-of-Bethlehem. A small part of the site is accessible via public footpaths; there are no public facilities or dedicated car parks. The site incorporates the High Batts Nature Reserve, which is privately run for training, recording and educational purposes, and accessible to members only, except for its annual open day. Ripon Parks is now owned by the Ministry of Defence, and parts of the site are used as military training areas.

Irthing Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border between the counties of Northumberland and Cumbria, in England. It is located on the south-western boundary of Northumberland National Park where the River Irthing flows near the village of Gilsland. This protected has an exceptional mixture of habitats, including hillside woodland, seepage areas and bare rock. The gorge here cuts through moorland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  2. "Protected Planet | Farleton Knott". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  3. 1 2 "Clawthorpe Fell | Cumbria Wildlife Trust". www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  4. 1 2 "Holme Park Quarry | Cumbria Wildlife Trust". www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  5. "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2024-12-07.