Witton-le-Wear (SSSI)

Last updated
Witton-le-Wear
Low Barnes Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 156978.jpg
Low Barnes Nature Reserve at Witton-le-Wear SSSI
Durham UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location MAGiC MaP
Nearest town Bishop Auckland, County Durham
Coordinates 54°40′36″N1°45′9″W / 54.67667°N 1.75250°W / 54.67667; -1.75250 Coordinates: 54°40′36″N1°45′9″W / 54.67667°N 1.75250°W / 54.67667; -1.75250
Area36.908 ha (91.20 acres)
Established1966 (1966)
Governing body Natural England
Website Witton-le-Wear SSSI

Witton-le-Wear (SSSI) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located in the valley of the River Wear, immediately east of the village of Witton-le-Wear in County Durham, England.

Contents

It is important as the only extensive body of biologically-significant open water in West Durham. [1]

SSSI status

Until 1964, the area now designated as an SSSI was used for sand and gravel extraction. When extraction ceased, the area was taken over by Durham Wildlife Trust, which developed the Low Barns Nature Reserve, on the site. [2]

The site was designated as Witton-le-Wear SSSI in 1966. Minor revisions were made to the boundaries in 1987. [1]

The nature reserve encompasses a visitor centre and a disused sewage works, neither of which is included in the SSSI.

Geography, geology and ecology

The site occupies an area adjacent to the River Wear, being bounded on the south by the river and on the north by a former river channel which was abandoned when the Wear shifted its course during a flood in 1771. [2] Being part of the river's floodplain, the area is underlain by riverine sands and gravels, which were formerly extracted; the abandoned workings were subsequently inundated, creating three lakes which are an important feature of the SSSI. [1]

The total area of permanent standing water is 5.5 ha, though the area is subject to periodic flooding, when standing water can temporarily cover the entire site and fresh sediment is deposited. Part of Marston Lake, the largest of the three permanent lakes, is fringed with tall fen vegetation, characterised by Bulrush, Typha latifolia , Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria , and Common Marsh-bedstraw, Galium palustre . [1]

On the northern edge of the SSSI, a belt of mature woodland was left when the river abandoned its former channel. The dominant tree species is Alder, Alnus glutinosa , with a groundcover dominated by weed species, principally Common Nettle, Urtica dioica , and Greater Chickweed, Stellaria neglecta . In wetter areas, scrub woodland, consisting of a mix of Alder and Willows, Salix spp , is developing. [1] In total, woodland covers an area of 12.4 ha.

Most of the site is covered by free-draining, sandy soils, on which neutral grassland has developed. The dominant grass species are False Oat-grass, Arrhenatherum elatius , and Common Bent, Agrostis capillaris , but a variety of herbs are present, including extensive patches dominated by three orchids, Northern Marsh, Dactylorhiza purpurella , Common Spotted, D. fuchsii , and Early Purple, Orchis mascula . [1] The total area under grassland is 19.0 ha.

Fauna and flora

A significant number of water birds breed on the lakes within the SSSI, including water rail, little grebe and great crested grebe. [1] The open water bodies also support large numbers of wintering wildfowl. [2]

Notable invertebrates include nine species of Odonata, including the Southern Hawker, Aeshna cyanea , as well as a grass-mining fly, Opomyza punctella , and a leaf beetle, Longitarsus reichei , which are locally rare.

Related Research Articles

Cotswold Water Park

The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest marl lake system, straddling the Wiltshire–Gloucestershire border, northwest of Cricklade and south of Cirencester. There are 180 lakes, spread over 42 square miles (110 km2).

Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of Ashford in Kent, England. The Green Corridor is made up of parks, recreation grounds and other green spaces alongside the rivers that flow through Ashford. It is a Local Nature Reserve.

Lower Woods

Lower Woods is a 280.1-hectare (692-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a 284.1-hectare (702-acre) site. The site is a nature reserve managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Brandon Marsh nature reserve Nature reserve in Warwickshire, England

Brandon Marsh is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserve in Warwickshire, England. It is situated adjacent to the River Avon, near the village of Brandon, a few miles east of Coventry.

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits

Sevenoaks Gravel Pits is a 73.7-hectare (182-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre.

Esher Commons Several large wooded areas to the south-west of Esher

Esher Commons is a 360.1-hectare (890-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Esher in Surrey. It includes Esher Common, Fairmile Common, West End Common and Oxshott Heath. Esher Common and West End Common are Local Nature Reserves.

The Wilderness SSSI, Isle of Wight Site of Special scientic Interest in the Isle of Wight, England

The Wilderness is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which is located on the Isle of Wight, England. It is close to the village of Rookley in the valley of the River Medina. The Wilderness is an area of wet woodland over a quite deep peat soil with adjacent areas of unimproved acid grassland and wet grassland. The SSSI covers an area of 12.59 hectares, the boundaries being reset in 1984 to exclude an area of grassland which had been artificially improved.

Turnford and Cheshunt Pits

The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres. It is part of the Lee Valley Special Protection Area.

Sound Heath

Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats. The majority of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve.

Waldridge Fell

Waldridge Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located immediately south-west of Chester-le-Street in the northern part of County Durham, England. It is one of the largest areas of lowland heath in County Durham and contains the only lowland valley-mire in the county. The fell is home to a number of plants and insects that are scarce to rare elsewhere in the county.

Westernhope Burn Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Wear Valley district of south-west County Durham, England. It occupies the steeply-incised ravine of the Westernhope Burn, a tributary of the River Wear, which it joins from the south about halfway between the villages of Eastgate and Westgate.

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 17.7-hectare (44-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aldermaston in Berkshire. An area of 8 hectares is a nature reserve called Decoy Heath, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Mid Colne Valley

Mid Colne Valley is a 132 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon and Denham in South Buckinghamshire. Its main importance lies in its extensive diversity of birdlife in lakes in former gravel pits.

Frampton Pools

Frampton Pools is a 59.84-hectare (147.9-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1974. The pools are on the edge of the village of Frampton on Severn.

Old River Severn, Upper Lode

Old River Severn, Upper Lode is a 3.72-hectare (9.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985. It is a cross county border site between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Heath Lake

Heath Lake is a 6-hectare (15-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Berkshire. The SSSI is part of the 22.3-hectare (55-acre) Heathlake Local Nature Reserve, which is owned and managed by Wokingham District Council.

Stodmarsh SSSI

Stodmarsh SSSI is a 623.2-hectare (1,540-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Stodmarsh, north-east of Canterbury in Kent. Parts of it are a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a National Nature Reserve, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.

Mar Field Fen Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Mar Field Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, north of Masham, North Yorkshire, England, in a rural area known as Marfield. It is situated on land containing woodland carr, fen, spring-fed marshy grassland and drier calcareous grassland, between the River Ure to the east and Marfield Wetland nature reserve to the west. As "one of the best examples of fen habitat in the Vale of York," it is a protected habitat for a variety of plants, including the common butterwort, a carnivorous plant. There is no public access to this site.

Ripon Parks Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Ripon Parks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated north of Ripon, to the west of the River Ure and to the east of the village of North Stainley, in North Yorkshire, England. It was once part of the land held since the Middle Ages as a deer park by the archbishops of York and the canons of Ripon. The site was designated as an SSSI in 1983, because its varied habitats are valued for their breeding birds, amphibians and varied flora. The woods here are "of note" for the parasitic flowers of common toothwort and yellow star-of-Bethlehem. A small part of the site is accessible via public footpaths; there are no public facilities or dedicated car parks. The site incorporates the High Batts Nature Reserve, which is privately run for training, recording and educational purposes, and accessible to members only, except for its annual open day. Ripon Parks is now owned by the Ministry of Defence, and parts of the site are used as military training areas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Witton-le-Wear : Reasons for SSSI status" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.