Prawle Point and Start Point Site of Special Scientific Interest

Last updated
The view towards Prawle Point View towards Prawle Point (geograph 4918462).jpg
The view towards Prawle Point

The Prawle Point and Start Point Site of Special Scientific Interest (grid reference SX741371 to grid reference SX819381 ) is a 341.2 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in southern Devon, notified in 1976.

It includes the coastal headlands of Prawle Point and Start Point.

The soft cliffs between Prawle Point and Start Point are recognised as being one of the most important sites for solitary bees and wasps in the UK. Over 100 species have been recorded including many rare and scarce species.

This section of coast features an almost continuous 5 km stretch of soft head deposits on a raised hard rock platform. These cliffs are south facing and feature sheltered coves, offering ideal conditions for thermophilic (warmth-loving) invertebrates. The friable cliff material and high temperatures attract large nesting aggregations of solitary bees and wasps which burrow into the cliff.

Prawle cliffs are the only site in the UK for the rare cuckoo bee Nomada sexfasciata, a cleptoparasite of the long-horned mining bee Eucera longicornis . Another rare species of particular note is the mason wasp Euodynerus quadrifasciatus . Currently, this is only known from three sites in the UK: East Prawle, West Weare (Portland, Dorset), and Thursley Common (Surrey).

Prawle is also an important site for the Cirl bunting, and supports a rich lichen assemblage.

Sources


Related Research Articles

River Blythe River in Warwickshire and the West Midlands, England

The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is a tributary of the River Tame beside the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk reserve. This then joins the River Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.

Start Point, Devon

Start Point is a promontory in the South Hams district in Devon, England, grid reference SX832370. Close to the most southerly point in the county, it marks the southern limit of Start Bay, which extends northwards to the estuary of the River Dart.

Wytham Woods

Wytham Woods are a 423.8-hectare (1,047-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Oxford in Oxfordshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site.

Exe Estuary estuary in Devon, England

The Exe estuary is an estuary on the south coast of Devon, England.

The Undercliff is the name of several areas of landslip on the south coast of England. They include ones on the Isle of Wight; on the Dorset-Devon border near Lyme Regis; on cliffs near Branscombe in East Devon; and at White Nothe, Dorset. All arose from slump of harder strata over softer clay, giving rise to irregular landscapes of peaks, gullies and slipped blocks, that have become densely vegetated due to their isolation and change of land use. The Kent coast at Folkestone and Sandgate also has similar undercliff areas.

Chailey Common

Chailey Common is a 169 hectare (417.4 acre) biological site of Special Scientific Interest in the East Sussex. It is close to the village of North Chailey to the west of Newick. The site was notified in 1985 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.

Kingdown and Middledown

Kingdown and Middledown is a 5.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1991.

Polyne Quarry is a 0.1 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK. It is located to the north of Polperro civil parish, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west of Looe.

Windsor Hill Marsh

Windsor Hill Marsh is a 0.84 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, north of the town of Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and adjacent to the Windsor Hill Quarry geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It was notified in January 1972.

West Yatton Down

West Yatton Down is a 14.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971.

Hardington Moor

Hardington Moor is an 8.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Hardington Mandeville and West Coker in Somerset, notified in 1994.

Great Breach and Copley Woods

Great Breach and Copley Woods is a 64.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 1 km south of Compton Dundon and 5 km south-east of Street in Somerset, England, notified in 1972.

Langmead and Weston Level

Langmead and Weston Level is a 168.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1991.

Highgate Common

Highgate Common is a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve containing a mix of heathland and woodland. It is about 129 hectares or 320 acres in size. The common is a popular leisure destination and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in Southern Staffordshire, England.

Treen Cliff Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall, England

Treen Cliff is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located on the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK, 6 miles (9.7 km) south-west of Penzance. First notified in 1951, with a revision in 1973, and a further notification on 1 July 1986, it is 49.3 hectares in area, stretching from grid reference SW387220 to SW402225. Designated for both for its biological and geological interest, part of the site, Treryn Dinas, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument consisting of a "cliff castle" with four ramparts and ditches and the Logan Rock. It is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the Penwith Heritage Coast and is part owned and managed by the National Trust.

Dunwich Heath

Dunwich Heath is an area of coastal lowland heath just south of the village of Dunwich, in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB, England. It is adjacent to the RSPB reserve at Minsmere. It lies within the area of the Minsmere-Walberswick Heaths and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

Cleeve Common

Cleeve Common is a 455-hectare (1,120-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1974. It is looked after by a small charity called Cleeve Common Trust, formally Cleeve Common Board of Conservators.

Highbury Wood

Highbury Wood is a 50.74-hectare (125.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1983.

Foulness SSSI

Foulness SSSI is a 10,702 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest covering the shoreline between Southend-on-Sea and the Crouch estuary in Essex.

Red Lodge Heath

Red Lodge Heath is a 20.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Red Lodge in Suffolk.