Keyhaven, Pennington, Oxey and Normandy Marshes, also known as the North Solent Marshes, [1] are three areas of saltmarsh in Hampshire, England. The haven outpost of Milford-on-Sea, Keyhaven sits to the west, the village of Pennington to the north, and the town of Lymington to the northeast. The marshes lie behind Hurst Spit and fall within the Hurst Castle And Lymington River Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The marshes were once used as salterns for the thriving salt industry. [2] The salterns are first mentioned in 1132, and continued in use until 1865. [3] They were replaced by oyster beds, but are now disused marshland with some enclosing banks. [3] A circular mound 1.2 metres high and 12 metres across is all that remains of a mill, and there is another mound with an overgrown brick structure and rectangular pond of unknown date. [3] Just north of the marshes, in Lower Pennington, are several 18th-century salt boiling houses.
The marshes are a site of special scientific interest and an area of outstanding natural beauty. [3] They are part of the New Forest National Park, and in summer are grazed by cattle and ponies owned by New Forest commoners. [4] Part of the marshes behind the sea wall are a national nature reserve managed by English Nature, and a local nature reserve managed by Hampshire County Council. [2] Part of the intertidal mudland is also a nature reserve. [2] The marshes and tidal muds offer a variety of wildlife habitats, which are important for gulls and terns in spring/summer and waders and wildfowl in autumn/winter. [2]
At Pennington Marshes, there are several lagoons, situated just inside the seawall - at the western end is Fishtail Lagoon, and the east of that Butts Lagoon.
A number of rare vagrant birds have occurred at the marshes including a stilt sandpiper in 2002, and a lesser sand plover in 2003.
Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the civil parish of Lymington and Pennington. The town has a large tourist industry, based on proximity to the New Forest and its harbour. It is a major yachting centre with three marinas. As of 2015, the parish of Lymington and Pennington had a population of 15,726.
Pennington may refer to:
Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large village and civil parish in the New Forest district, on the Hampshire coast, England. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Lymington. Tourism and businesses for quite prosperous retirees as well as the care sector make up large parts of its economy. Businesses include restaurants, cafés, tea rooms, small shops, garden centres, pubs and camping/lodge/caravan parks, bed-and-breakfasts and a few luxury hotels. Shops cluster on its small high street, which fronts a village green. The western cliffs are accessed by flights of steps. In common with the flatter coast by the more commercial and eastern part of Milford, they have car parks with some facilities, which, along with many apartment blocks and houses, have close views of The Needles, which are the main, large chalk rocks immediately next to the Isle of Wight.
The Lymington River drains part of the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England. Numerous headwaters to the west of Lyndhurst give rise to the river, including Highland Water, Bratley Water and Fletchers Water. From Brockenhurst the river runs southwards to the Solent at Lymington.
50.724°N 1.600°W
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust with 27,000 members across the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, England.
Langstone Harbour is a 2,085.4-hectare (5,153-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. It is an inlet of the English Channel in Hampshire, sandwiched between Portsea Island to the south and west, Hayling Island to the south and east, and Langstone to the north. It is part of Chichester and Langstone Harbours Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. Parts of it are in Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation. Three areas are Local Nature Reserves, Farlington Marshes West Hayling and The Kench, Hayling Island. Two areas are nature reserves managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Farlington Marshes and Southmoor Nature Reserve
National nature reserves in Hampshire in England are established by Natural England and managed by them or by non-governmental organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds or the National Trust.
Pennington is a ward in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England, which is defined based on the boundaries of the earlier manor. Pennington Village is at the centre of the ward, with Upper Pennington to the north and Lower Pennington to the south. The population taken at the 2011 census was 6,060. It is in the southernmost part of the New Forest on the Solent coastline near to the town of Lymington, with which it shares the civil parish of Lymington and Pennington.
Keyhaven is a hamlet on the south coast of England in the county of Hampshire. It is a fishing village, but the trade has been in decline for a period of years and its main draw now is tourism, especially sailing.
The South Hampshire Coast was an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Hampshire, England, UK that was subsumed into the New Forest National Park when it was established on 1 April 2005. It lies between the New Forest and the west shore of the Solent.
50.786°N 1.624°W
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary is a 1,077.3-hectare (2,662-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lymington in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites. Three areas are local nature reserves, Boldre Foreshore, Sturt Pond and Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes; the latter site is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Part of it is North Solent National Nature Reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Parts of it are in Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation.
North Solent is a 1,186.7-hectare (2,932-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest along the north bank of the Solent between East End and Calshot in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. Part of it is in North Solent National Nature Reserve and two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. Boldre Foreshore is a local nature reserve.
Titchfield Haven is a 134.5-hectare (332-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Gosport in Hampshire. Most of it is a local nature reserve and a national nature reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.
Boldre Foreshore is a 193.3-hectare (478-acre) Local Nature Reserve east of Lymington in Hampshire. It is owned by New Forest District Council and managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation, Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest and Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes, a nature reserve managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes is a 738-hectare (1,820-acre) nature reserve which stretches from Keyhaven along the south coast across the Lymington River in Hampshire. It is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Some areas are part of two Special Areas of Conservation, Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons and Solent Maritime and Solent. It is also part of Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and of North Solent Marshes Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2. Two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites, and two are Local Nature Reserves, Boldre Foreshore and Lymington-Keyhaven Marshes.
Sturt Pond is a 10.9-hectare (27-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Milford on Sea in Hampshire. It is owned and managed by Milford On Sea Parish Council. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation and of Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.