Norfolk is a county in East Anglia. It has an area of 2,074 square miles (5,370 square kilometres) [1] and a population as of mid-2017 of 898,400. [2] The top level of local government is Norfolk County Council with seven second tier councils: Breckland District Council, Broadland District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, North Norfolk District Council, Norwich City Council and South Norfolk District Council. [3] The county is bounded by Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and the North Sea. [1]
Local nature reserves (LNRs) are designated by local authorities under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The local authority must have a legal control over the site, by owning or leasing it or having an agreement with the owner. Local nature reserves are sites which have a special local interest either biologically or geologically. Local authorities have a duty to care for them, and can apply local bye-laws to manage and protect them. [4] [5]
As of October 2018, there are 27 LNRs in Norfolk, [6] seven of which are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, three are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, one is a Ramsar site, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, one is a Nature Conservation Review site, one is a Scheduled Monument, two are managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and one by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
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Site | Photograph | Area [lower-alpha 1] | Location [lower-alpha 2] | Borough | Other classifications | Map [lower-alpha 3] | Details [lower-alpha 4] | Description |
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Barnham Cross Common | 69.2 hectares (171 acres) | Thetford 52°23′53″N0°44′24″E / 52.398°N 0.740°E TL 865 813 | Breckland | SAC, [7] SPA, [8] SSSI [9] | Map | Details | This grassland and heath common has diverse habitats and a rich flora, including several nationally rare plants. There are nearly 100 species of birds, including 60 which breed on the site, and a wide range of invertebrates. [10] | |
Bath Hills | 12.2 hectares (30 acres) | Bungay 52°28′08″N1°25′19″E / 52.469°N 1.422°E TM 325 912 | South Norfolk | Map | Details | This is the sheltered south side of a steep valley, and spring flowers bloom very early as a result. [11] | ||
Bowthorpe Marsh | 5.9 hectares (15 acres) | Norwich 52°37′48″N1°13′16″E / 52.630°N 1.221°E TG 181 085 | Norwich | Map | Details | This site adjacent to the River Yare has unimproved grassland, tall fen, a seasonal pond and drainage ditches, which have aquatic plants such as reed sweet-grass. [12] | ||
Breydon Water | 449.1 hectares (1,110 acres) | Great Yarmouth 52°36′25″N1°41′02″E / 52.607°N 1.684°E TG 495 074 | Great Yarmouth | Ramsar, [13] SPA, [14] SSSI [15] [16] | Map | Details | This inland tidal estuary has large areas of mud at low tide, and it provides an ample food supply for migrating and wintering wildfowl and waders. There are nationally important numbers of several species of wintering wildfowl, including rare species. [17] | |
Broome Heath | 31.7 hectares (78 acres) | Bungay 52°28′12″N1°27′11″E / 52.470°N 1.453°E TM 346 914 | South Norfolk | SM, [18] SSSI [19] | Map | Details | This site in the valley of the River Waveney has marshy grazing land and lakes. At the southern end there is a Neolithic settlement, [20] and in the middle there are long and round barrows. [18] | |
Brundall Church Fen | 2.8 hectares (6.9 acres) | Norwich 52°37′16″N1°25′34″E / 52.621°N 1.426°E TG 320 081 | Broadland | Map | Details | Fauna in this former gazing marsh include water voles, foxes, Chinese water deer and occasionally otters. [21] | ||
Danby Wood | 3.9 hectares (9.6 acres) | Norwich 52°36′11″N1°16′30″E / 52.603°N 1.275°E TG 219 056 | Norwich | Map | Details | This semi-natural wood on a former chalk mine has many hills, hollows and banks. Broadleaved trees include oaks, limes, sycamores and two walnuts. [22] | ||
Dunston Common | 3.8 hectares (9.4 acres) | Norwich 52°34′26″N1°17′02″E / 52.574°N 1.284°E TG 226 025 | South Norfolk | Map | Details | Most of this site is grassland with flora including lady's bedstraw, harebell and sheep's sorrel. There is also an area of semi-mature woodland at the western end. [23] | ||
Earlham Park Woods | 8.1 hectares (20 acres) | Norwich 52°37′23″N1°13′52″E / 52.623°N 1.231°E TG 188 077 | Norwich | Map | Details | This is an area of woodland fringing Earlham Park, and trees include regenerating elms. Other habitats include tall marsh, unimproved grassland and a pond which has silted up. [24] | ||
Eaton Common | 5.3 hectares (13 acres) | Norwich 52°35′53″N1°15′32″E / 52.598°N 1.259°E TG 208 050 | Norwich | Map | Details | This site on the bank of the River Yare is mainly grassland, some of which is marshy. There are also small areas of broadleaved woodland and tall herbs. [25] | ||
Felmingham Cutting | 1.0 hectare (2.5 acres) | Norwich 52°48′29″N1°20′02″E / 52.808°N 1.334°E TG 248 286 | North Norfolk | Map | Details | Sixteen species of butterfly breed on this railway cutting, which is on a former line of the Midland and Great Northern Railway, and is now part of the Weavers Way long-distance footpath. [26] | ||
Great Eastern Pingo Trail | 4.2 hectares (10 acres) | Thetford 52°30′14″N0°50′28″E / 52.504°N 0.841°E TL 929 934 | Breckland | NCR, [27] NWT, [28] SAC, [29] SPA, [30] | Map | Details | This site has around 300 pingos, shallow pools formed when ice melted at the end of the last ice age. There is a mosaic of habitats with a large lake, Thompson Water, at the western end. [34] [35] | |
Hindringham Meadows | 6.7 hectares (17 acres) | Fakenham 52°54′00″N0°55′12″E / 52.900°N 0.920°E TF 965 376 | North Norfolk | Map | Details | No information is available about this site. | ||
Knapton Cutting | 0.9 hectares (2.2 acres) | North Walsham 52°50′42″N1°24′43″E / 52.845°N 1.412°E TG 299 329 | North Norfolk | Map | Details | Knapton Cutting is a footpath from Knapton to North Walsham along the former North Walsham to Mundesley railway line. A short stretch at the northern end is the LNR, called Knapton Cutting Butterfly Reserve. It has a variety of flowering plants, including small-flowered catchfly, which is classified as endangered in Britain. [36] | ||
Lion Wood | 8.9 hectares (22 acres) | Norwich 52°37′44″N1°19′12″E / 52.629°N 1.320°E TG 248 087 | Norwich | Map | Details | Around a third of this wood is believed to be ancient. The dominant trees are oak and sycamore, and there is a variety of woodland birds such as blackcaps and green and greater spotted woodpeckers. [37] | ||
Litcham Common | 24.9 hectares (62 acres) | King's Lynn 52°43′05″N0°47′20″E / 52.718°N 0.789°E TF 885 170 | Breckland | Map | Details | This heathland site has areas of acid grassland, wet and dry heath, scrub and mature oak and birch woodland. [38] | ||
Marston Marshes | 25.9 hectares (64 acres) | Norwich 52°36′07″N1°16′05″E / 52.602°N 1.268°E TG 214 055 | Norwich | Map | Details | This site in the flood plain of the River Yare has marshes, fen, dykes, scrub, wet woodland, dry grassland and five ponds. Flora include ragged robin and southern marsh orchid and there many invertebrates including the rare Desmoulin's whorl snail. [39] | ||
Mousehold Heath | 74.0 hectares (183 acres) | Norwich 52°38′35″N1°18′50″E / 52.643°N 1.314°E TG 243 102 | Norwich | GCR, [40] SSSI [41] | Map | Details | This fragment of a formerly extensive heath has habitats including woodland, a pond, scrub and acid grassland. There are woodland birds such as song thrushes and great spotted woodpeckers. [42] | |
Pigney's Wood | 20.9 hectares (52 acres) | North Walsham 52°50′13″N1°24′14″E / 52.837°N 1.404°E TG 294 320 | North Norfolk | NWT [43] | Map | Details | This wood has 40 different species of trees, most of which have been planted since 1993, but there is a 450 year old oak. There is also a range of birds, butterflies and dragonflies. Mammals include otters, water voles and badgers. [43] | |
Roydon Fen | 17.2 hectares (43 acres) | Diss 52°22′30″N1°05′06″E / 52.375°N 1.085°E TM 101 797 | South Norfolk | SWT [44] | Map | Details | This site was taken over by wet woodland in the twentieth century, but the SWT has restored the eastern end to fen by mowing, and it has many typical fen plants such as marsh helleborine, marsh fragrant orchid and sawsedge. [44] | |
Smockmill Common | 10.0 hectares (25 acres) | Norwich 52°32′10″N1°16′08″E / 52.536°N 1.269°E TM 218 981 | South Norfolk | Map | Details | This site next to the River Tas has fen on the river bank and woodland and grassland in other areas. The flora is very diverse. [45] | ||
South Walsham Fen | 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) | Norwich 52°39′40″N1°28′26″E / 52.661°N 1.474°E TG 350 127 | Broadland | Map | Details | This nature reserve has semi-improved grassland and species-rich hedges which mark an ancient track. There are also areas of bracken [46] and old woodland. [47] | ||
Southrepps Common | 12.9 hectares (32 acres) | Norwich 52°51′54″N1°21′29″E / 52.865°N 1.358°E TG 261 350 | North Norfolk | SAC [48] SSSI [49] | Map | Details | This is damp grassland and fen in the valley of the River Ant. There are several rare true flies characteristic of undisturbed wetlands, especially Pteromicra glabricula and Colobaea distincta , both of which have larvae which are parasitic on snails. [50] | |
Toll's Meadow, Wymondham | 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres) | Wymondham 52°34′01″N1°06′47″E / 52.567°N 1.113°E TG 111 011 | South Norfolk | Map | Details | The River Tiffey runs through this site, which has wet meadow and woodland. There is a variety of small birds and mammals include muntjac and roe deer, bank voles and common shrews. [51] | ||
Wensum Valley | 8.2 hectares (20 acres) | Norwich 52°38′24″N1°15′54″E / 52.640°N 1.265°E TG 210 097 | Norwich | Map | Details | This site is in two adjacent areas. Mile Cross Marsh has damp grassland and fen and Sycamore Crescent is a narrow stretch of mature oak and beech woodland with an understorey of elm and sycamore. [52] | ||
Whitlingham Marsh | 15.5 hectares (38 acres) | Norwich 52°37′19″N1°21′40″E / 52.622°N 1.361°E TG 276 080 | South Norfolk | Map | Details | Most of this site on the southern bank of the River Yare is reed beds, which have many dragonflies. Chinese water deer sometimes browse in the marsh. [53] | ||
Wiveton Down | 6.5 hectares (16 acres) | Holt 52°56′13″N1°01′26″E / 52.937°N 1.024°E TG 033 420 | North Norfolk | SSSI [54] | Map | Details | This is a classic example of an esker, a glacial crevasse which has been filled in until it forms a narrow winding ridge. It has been very important for teaching, research and demonstration. [55] |
The Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest of all the trusts. It has over 35,500 members and eight local groups and it manages more than fifty nature reserves and other protected sites. It also gives conservation advice to individuals and organisations, provides educational services to young people on field trips and organises entertainment and information events at nature reserves. The NWT reserves include twenty-six Sites of Special Scientific Interests, nine national nature reserves, twelve Nature Conservation Review sites, sixteen Special Areas of Conservation, twelve Special Protection Areas, eleven Ramsar sites, two local nature reserves, four Geological Conservation Review sites and five which are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Halvergate Marshes are an area of grazing marsh in the east of the English county of Norfolk. They form part of the area of The Broads and lie between the River Bure and the River Yare, bordering Breydon Water on the east. The marshes cover an area of around 2,642 hectares An area of 1,432.7-hectare (3,540-acre) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Some areas are also in the Breydon Water Local Nature Reserve, the Broadland and Breydon Water Ramsar sites, The Broads Special Area of Conservation, and The Broads and Breydon Water Special Protection Areas.
Breydon Water is a 514.4-hectare (1,271-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is a Local Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is part of the Berney Marshes and Breydon Water nature reserve, which is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and to "ensure that 30% of Kent and Medway – land and sea – is managed to create a healthy place for wildlife to flourish". In 2016 it had thirty-one thousand members and an annual income of £4 million. KWT manages over sixty-five nature reserves, of which twenty-four are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two are national nature reserves, nine are Nature Conservation Review sites, seven are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, seven are local nature reserves, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, thirteen are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one is a scheduled monument.
Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in Ashbocking, near Ipswich. It was founded in 1961, and is one of 46 wildlife trusts covering the Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of March 2017, it has 13,200 members, and it manages 3,120 hectares of land in 60 nature reserves, most of which are open to the public. It had an income of £3.9 million in the year to 31 March 2017.
The Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a conservation charity which aims to protect natural life in Sussex. It was founded in 1961 and is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. As of 2019, it has 33,000 members and manages 2,000 hectares of land for nature. It is a registered charity and in the year to 31 March 2019 it had an income of £5.7 million and expenditure of £4 million, resulting in net income of £1.7 million.
Wayland Wood is a 31.7-hectare (78-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near to Watton in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Great Eastern Pingo Trail is a 9.2 kilometres long footpath along a disused railway line north of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) Local Nature Reserve, and it crosses three Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Thompson Water, Carr and Common, Breckland Forest and Cranberry Rough, Hockham. It also crosses Thompson Common, which is a nature reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It further crosses Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area.
Thompson Water, Carr and Common is a 154.7-hectare (382-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk. Most of it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as Thompson Common. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is crossed by the Great Eastern Pingo Trail Local Nature Reserve.
East Wretham Heath is a 141.1-hectare (349-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. it is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Weeting Heath is a 141.8-hectare (350-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Thetford in Norfolk, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a National Nature Reserve. It is also part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Breckland Forest is an 18,126 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites, Beeches Pit, Icklingham and High Lodge. Barton Mills Valley is a Local Nature Reserve in the south-west corner of the site.
Cavenham–Icklingham Heaths is a 419 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Icklingham in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Cavenham Heath is a 203.1 hectare National Nature Reserve.
Barnham Cross Common is a 69.1-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of Thetford in Norfolk. It is owned by Thetford Town Council and is registered common land. It is also a Local Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1. It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.
Bridgham and Brettenham Heaths is a 439.9-hectare (1,087-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. Brettenham Heath is a National Nature Reserve.
Coordinates: 52°40′N1°00′E / 52.667°N 1.000°E