| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Norfolk |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TG 101 418 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 89.4 hectares (221 acres) [1] |
| Notification | 1986 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Kelling Heath is an 89.4-hectare (221-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Holt and Weybourne in Norfolk. [1] [2] It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [3]
Kelling Heath lies on the Cromer Ridge, a glacial moraine formed by retreating glaciers at the end of the last Ice age. [4] Together with nearby Salthouse Heath, it is one of two distinct outwash plains dating from different halt stages of the same glaciation. Kelling Heath provides perhaps the best example of a glacial outwash plain in England. Both sites have steep ice-contact slopes and are dissected by deep dry valleys, and are geomorphological sites of national importance.
The heath is described by Natural England as 'a fine example of oceanic heathland'. The vegetation is typical of dry, acid heath and is dominated by heather, bell heather, western gorse, gorse and bracken, with areas of mixed woodland. A wide variety of heathland birds nest on the site, including nightjar, whitethroat and tree pipit. The dry conditions are favourable to reptiles such as common lizard and adder. [5]
The heath is bisected by the North Norfolk Railway, which has a Kelling Heath Halt. There is a Holiday Park adjoining the heath.
Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a landscape region it is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that lies mostly in the south of the county of Norfolk but also in the north of Suffolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the east of another unusual habitat, the Fens, and to the south west of the Broads. The typical tree of this area is the Scots pine. Breckland is one of the driest areas in England.
Bilsey Hill is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Blakeney in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Dersingham Bog is a 159.1-hectare (393-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, a National Nature Reserve and a Ramsar site It is part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the Roydon Common & Dersingham Bog Special Area of Conservation Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Blaxhall Common is a nature reserve in the parish of Blaxhall in the East Suffolk District of Suffolk. The reserve is owned by Blaxhall Parish Council and managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is designated a 45.9-hectare (113-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Blaxhall Heath. It is part of the Sandlings Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A Bronze Age bowl barrow is a Scheduled Monument.
Sutton and Hollesley Heaths is a 483.3-hectare (1,194-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Woodbridge in Suffolk. Most of the site is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust as Sutton and Hollesley Commons. It is part of the Sandlings Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Thundersley Great Common or Thundersley Common is an 8.9-hectare (22-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Thundersley in Essex. It is managed as public open space by Castle Point Borough Council.
Bawdsey Cliff is a 17.4-hectare (43-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Felixstowe in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Thetford Heaths is a 270.6-hectare (669-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and parts of it are a national nature reserve, and a Geological Conservation Review, It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area A large part of this dry heathland site is calcareous grassland, and some areas are grazed by sheep or rabbits. There are several nationally rare plants and an uncommon heathland bird, and many lichens and mosses.
Tunstall Common is a 36.6 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Tunstall in Suffolk. It is part of the Sandlings Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Ringstead Downs is a 6.9-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Hunstanton in Norfolk. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is the western part of the 11-hectare (27-acre) Ringstead Downs nature reserve, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Cawston and Marsham Heaths is a 116.7-hectare (288-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Norwich in Norfolk.
Holkham Brick Pit is a 0.5-hectare (1.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Morston Cliff is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is part of Blakeney National Nature Reserve, which is managed by the National Trust, and of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Wells Chalk Pit is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the eastern outskirts of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Sheringham and Beeston Regis Commons is a 24.9-hectare (62-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Sheringham in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. and Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Wiveton Downs is a 28.9-hectare (71-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Wiveton, west of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and an area of 6.5-hectare (16-acre) is a Local Nature Reserve. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Briton's Lane Gravel Pit is a 21.5-hectare (53-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Sheringham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Glandford (Hurdle Lane) is a 9.4-hectare (23-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Sheringham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Glandford (Letheringsett Road) is a 1.1-hectare (2.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Sheringham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Weybourne Town Pit is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Sheringham in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
