Cockleford Marsh

Cockleford Marsh
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Example - Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
Shown within Gloucestershire
Area of Search	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO977133
Coordinates	51°49′08″N 2°02′03″W / 51.818772°N 2.034046°W / 51.818772; -2.034046Coordinates: 51°49′08″N 2°02′03″W / 51.818772°N 2.034046°W / 51.818772; -2.034046
Interest	Biological
Area	3.2 hectare
Notification	1991
Natural England website

Cockleford Marsh (grid reference SO977133) is a 3.2-hectare (7.9-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1991.^[1]^[2]

It lies in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is a typical example of the spring line fen-meadow habitat which is common along the Cotswold scarp and the valleys in areas of landslip. There are only a few remaining such marshes in the Cotswolds. This site is particularly botanically rich and a mixture of grassland and wetland habitats.^[1]

The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 (on line) as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).^[3]

Flora

The fen-meadow is dominated by Hard Rush, Creeping Bent and Brooklime. Locally scarce (Gloucestershire) species occur such as Bogbean, Common Cottongrass, Marsh Arrowgrass, Southern Marsh Orchid, Star Sedge and other particular sedges. A significant number of Common Spotted Orchids are recorded, along with Marsh Marigold, Ragged Robin and Marsh Valerian.^[1]

The unimproved grassland consists of two main types. There is short grazed limestone grassland and taller neutral grassland. The former is herb rich. These include Devil's bit Scabious, Burnet Saxifrage, Mouse-ear Hawkweed and Lady's Bedstraw.^[1]

References

SSSI Source

External links

Natural England (SSSI information)

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows

Neighbouring areas Avon Hereford and Worcester Oxfordshire Wiltshire

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, June 29, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.