West Sedgemoor

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West Sedgemoor
Site of Special Scientific Interest
RSPB West Sedgemoor nature reserve - lake.jpg
A lake at the RSPB West Sedgemoor nature reserve
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Somerset
Area of Search Somerset
Grid reference ST361258
Coordinates 51°01′41″N2°54′45″W / 51.02800°N 2.91256°W / 51.02800; -2.91256 Coordinates: 51°01′41″N2°54′45″W / 51.02800°N 2.91256°W / 51.02800; -2.91256
InterestBiological
Area1,016 hectares (10.16 km2; 3.92 sq mi)
Notification 1983 (1983)
Natural England website


West Sedgemoor or West Sedge Moor (grid reference ST361258 ) is an area of the Somerset Levels, in Somerset, England, around 8 miles (13 km) east of Taunton, which approximately coincides with the West Sedgemoor biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, a 1,016 hectare (3.9 sq miles) site notified as an SSSI in 1983. It is a flat, low-lying area (approx. 5 metres above sea level) of fields and meadows separated by water-filled rhynes and ditches. It is subject to controlled flooding in winter. It is drained by the River Parrett.

Part of the moor is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve. A rich invertebrate fauna is present including scarce water beetles, dragonflies and bugs. The site also supports good populations of waterfowl, especially waders. Breeding birds include snipe, lapwing, redshank, curlew, water rail, yellow wagtail and whinchat. [1]

Swell Wood, an ancient deciduous wood on the southern edge of the reserve, has one of the UK's largest heronries, which is best visited between March and June. [2]

Related Research Articles

River Parrett River in the United Kingdom

The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay nature reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of 660 square miles (1,700 km2) – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000.

Somerset Levels Coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England

The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.

Sedgemoor Non-metropolitan district in England

Sedgemoor is a low-lying area of land in Somerset, England. It lies close to sea level south of the Polden Hills, historically largely marsh. The eastern part is known as King's Sedgemoor, and the western part West Sedgemoor. Sedgemoor is part of the area now known as the Somerset Levels and Moors. Historically the area was known as the site of the Battle of Sedgemoor.

River Huntspill

The River Huntspill is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It was built in 1940 to supply process water to ROF Bridgwater, and has resulted in reduced flooding of the lower Brue Valley. Huntspill Sluice at the river's western end, also known as West Huntspill Sluice, separates it from the River Parrett.

River Cary (Somerset)

The River Cary is a river in Somerset, England. It is sourced from the Park Pond in Castle Cary and flows towards the southwest.

Edington, Somerset Human settlement in England

Edington is a rural village, situated on the north side of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.

Geology of Somerset

Somerset is a rural county in the southwest of England, covering 4,171 square kilometres (1,610 sq mi). It is bounded on the north-west by the Bristol Channel, on the north by Bristol and Gloucestershire, on the north-east by Wiltshire, on the south-east by Dorset, and on the south west and west by Devon. It has broad central plains with several ranges of low hills. The landscape divides into four main geological sections from the Silurian through the Devonian and Carboniferous to the Permian which influence the landscape, together with water-related features.

River Brue

The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some 50 kilometres (31 mi) west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth century. The river provides an important drainage route for water from a low-lying area which is prone to flooding which man has tried to manage through rhynes, canals, artificial rivers and sluices for centuries.

Kings Sedgemoor

King's Sedgemoor is a piece of rich animal habitat and farming land, that forms part of the Somerset Levels and Moors in South West England.

Westonzoyland Human settlement in England

Westonzoyland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated on the Somerset Levels, 4 miles (6.4 km) south east of Bridgwater.

Kings Sedgemoor Drain

King's Sedgemoor Drain is an artificial drainage channel which diverts the River Cary in Somerset, England along the southern flank of the Polden Hills, to discharge into the River Parrett at Dunball near Bridgwater. As the name suggests, the channel is used to help drain the peat moors of King's Sedgemoor. There was opposition to drainage schemes from the local inhabitants, who feared that they would lose their common grazing rights. However, the main channel was constructed between 1791 and 1795, and despite some defects, brought some relief from flooding to the area.

Fivehead Woods and Meadow

Fivehead Woods and Meadow is a 62.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Fivehead in Somerset, notified in 1989.

Moorlinch SSSI

Moorlinch is a 226.0 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Moorlinch in Somerset, notified in 1985.

Westhay Moor

Westhay Moor is a 513.7-hectare (1,269-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north-east of Westhay village and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Wedmore in Somerset, England, notified in 1971. Westhay Moor is also notified as part of the Somerset Levels and Moors Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive and as a Ramsar site, and a National Nature Reserve.

Catcott Human settlement in England

Catcott is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington 7 miles (11.3 km) to the east of Bridgwater on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.

Geography of Somerset

The county of Somerset is in South West England, bordered by the Bristol Channel and the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, and Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south, and Devon to the west. The climate, influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the prevailing westerly winds, tends to be mild, damp and windy.

Sowy River

The Sowy River is an artificial drainage channel in Somerset, England.

Ham Wall Wetland nature reserve in Somerset, England

Ham Wall is an English wetland National Nature Reserve (NNR) 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels. It is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Since the last Ice Age, decomposing plants in the marshes of the Brue valley in Somerset have accumulated as deep layers of peat that were commercially exploited on a large scale in the twentieth century. Consumer demand eventually declined, and in 1994 the landowners, Fisons, gave their old workings to what is now Natural England, who passed the management of the 260 hectares Ham Wall section to the RSPB.

Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels

From December 2013 onwards the Somerset Levels suffered severe flooding as part of the wider 2013-2014 Atlantic winter storms in Europe and subsequent 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods. The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known, is a coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset, in South West England, running south from the Mendip Hills to the Blackdown Hills.

References

  1. "West Sedgemoor" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
  2. "West Sedgemoor". RSPB Reserves. Retrieved 2006-08-22.