List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cheshire

File:Risley moss nature reserve.jpg

Mosslands, such as Risley Moss, are one of the major habitat types in Cheshire

There are 63 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Cheshire, England, covering a total area of 19,844 hectares (49,035 acres). Of these, 51 have been designated for their biological interest, 7 for their geological or geomorphological features, and 5 for both.

SSSIs are governed by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which mandates that sites be selected for their "flora, fauna, or geological or physiographical features". The body responsible for designating biological SSSIs in England is Natural England, which took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from English Nature on its creation in 2006. Earth sciences SSSIs are notified separately by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee across the entire UK via Geological Conservation Review. Natural England, like its predecessor bodies, uses a system of areas termed "Areas of Search", which broadly correspond with the 1974–1996 counties, and for consistency the same approach is followed here. In the case of Cheshire, the Area of Search differs from the modern ceremonial county boundary. Since the 1990s, nature conservation in England has also focused on 120 natural areas: regions defined by natural features rather than by administrative boundaries. The Cheshire Area of Search encompasses four natural areas.

File:Cheshire Natural Areas.jpg

Sketch map showing the broad locations of the four natural areas

The majority of the SSSIs fall within the Meres and Mosses natural area, which covers the bulk of the county, extending into Shropshire and Staffordshire to the south. This region is dominated by the Cheshire Plain, a wide expanse of flat or gently undulating farmland which rarely rises above 100 metres in elevation. Despite intensive agricultural use, diverse wetland habitats survive including mosses (bogs), swamps, fens, meres and thousands of ponds. Flashes, originating in subsidence after salt extraction, contain examples of inland salt marsh, an extremely rare habitat internationally. Ancient woodland is sparse throughout this area, but is found on the slopes of the Mid Cheshire Ridge and in river valleys towards the north of the county. The lowland heath habitat is very rare, occurring only at a handful of sites. The Mid Cheshire Ridge rises abruptly in the middle of the plain, with a high point of 227 metres; its Triassic sandstones are exposed at the Raw Head geological site.

File:Peckforton Hills 2.jpg

Raw Head is one of the area's geological SSSIs

Two extensive sites, Goyt Valley and Leek Moors, lie at the eastern edge of the county and the south-western end of the Pennines, within the South West Peak natural area of the Peak District. At a significantly higher elevation than the other Cheshire SSSIs and underlain by millstone grit and shale, they contain a variety of upland habitats, predominantly heather moorland, grassland and blanket mire.

Ten SSSIs are located in Warrington and Halton and the former borough of Ellesmere Port & Neston, in the north-west of the county. These fall within the Urban Mersey Basin natural area, which also covers Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Although the area as a whole is one of the most densely populated regions in Europe, much of the area within Cheshire is farmland. Semi-natural habitats here include ancient woodland, raised bog and freshwater wetland. The Rixton Clay Pits site represents former industrial land, and railway cuttings expose geological features. Finally, the Liverpool Bay coastal region contains two estuaries, the Mersey and Dee, which are Cheshire's largest SSSIs.

Sites

Site name	Reason for designation		Area[A]		Grid reference[B]	Year in which notified	Map[C]	Citation[D]
	Biological interest	Geological interest	Hectares	Acres
Abbots Moss	Green tickY		38.4	94.8		1984	Template:Nature on the map	[2]
Alderley Edge		Green tickY	93.6	231.2		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[3]
Bagmere	Green tickY		26.9	66.3		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[4]
Bar Mere	Green tickY		12.8	31.5		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[5]
Beechmill Wood and Pasture	Green tickY		6.2	15.4		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[6]
Betley Mere	Green tickY		29.6	73.2		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[7]
Bickerton Hill	Green tickY		91.0	224.8		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[8]
Black Lake, Delamere	Green tickY		1.7	4.3		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[9]
Brookhouse Moss	Green tickY		10.1	24.9		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[10]
Chapel Mere	Green tickY		11.8	29.1		1987	Template:Nature on the map	[11]
Comber Mere	Green tickY		65.0	160.5		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[12]
Dane-In-Shaw Pasture	Green tickY		8.2	20.2		1990	Template:Nature on the map	[13]
Danes Moss	Green tickY		51.3	126.8		1985	Template:Nature on the map	[14]
Dee Cliffs, Farndon		Green tickY	2.0	5.0		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[15]
Dee Estuary	Green tickY		5,241.2	12,951.2		1954	Template:Nature on the map	[16]
Dunsdale Hollow	Green tickY		6.9	17.0		1987	Template:Nature on the map	[17]
Flaxmere Moss	Green tickY		7.0	17.2		1965	Template:Nature on the map	[18]
Flood Brook Clough	Green tickY		5.1	12.6		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[19]
Frodsham Railway and Road Cuttings		Green tickY	1.3	3.3		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[20]
Gannister Quarry		Green tickY	1.6	4.0		1985	Template:Nature on the map	[21]
Gleads Moss	Green tickY		2.8	6.9		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[22]
Goyt Valley	Green tickY		1,332.6	3,292.9		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[23]
Hallwood Farm Marl Pit	Green tickY		0.1	0.3		1986	Template:Nature on the map	[24]
Hatch Mere	Green tickY		13.3	32.7		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[25]
Hatherton Flush	Green tickY		1.9	4.8		1985	Template:Nature on the map	[26]
Hatton's Hey Wood, Whittle's Corner and Bank Rough	Green tickY		23.7	58.5		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[27]
Holcroft Moss	Green tickY		18.1	44.7		1991	Template:Nature on the map	[28]
Holly Banks[E]	Green tickY		9.3	23.1		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[29]
Inner Marsh Farm	Green tickY		22.5	55.6		1998	Template:Nature on the map	[30]
Leek Moors	Green tickY	Green tickY	3,970.8	9,812.1		1954	Template:Nature on the map	[31]
Lindow Common	Green tickY		17.7	43.7		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[32]
Linmer Moss	Green tickY		2.4	5.8		1994	Template:Nature on the map	[33]
Little Budworth Common	Green tickY		54.4	134.3		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[34]
Madams Wood	Green tickY		9.5	23.4		1990	Template:Nature on the map	[35]
Mersey Estuary	Green tickY		6,714.5	16,591.9		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[36]
Norbury Meres	Green tickY		23.7	58.6		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[37]
Oak Mere	Green tickY		68.8	169.9		1986	Template:Nature on the map	[38]
Oakhanger Moss	Green tickY		14.4	35.6		1994	Template:Nature on the map	[39]
Peckforton Woods	Green tickY		57.9	143.0		1984	Template:Nature on the map	[40]
Pettypool Brook Valley	Green tickY		46.7	115.3		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[41]
Plumley Lime Beds	Green tickY		23.3	57.5		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[42]
Quoisley Meres	Green tickY		28.3	70.0		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[43]
Raw Head		Green tickY	13.5	33.4		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[44]
Red Brow Cutting		Green tickY	0.2	0.4		1991	Template:Nature on the map	[45]
Risley Moss	Green tickY		83.8	207.1		1986	Template:Nature on the map	[46]
River Dane[E]		Green tickY	295.8	730.8		1994	Template:Nature on the map	[47]
River Dee (England)	Green tickY	Green tickY	371.5	917.9		1996	Template:Nature on the map	[48]
Rixton Clay Pits	Green tickY		13.7	33.7		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[49]
Roe Park Woods	Green tickY		35.4	87.5		1990	Template:Nature on the map	[50]
Rostherne Mere	Green tickY	Green tickY	152.5	376.8		1984	Template:Nature on the map	[51]
Sandbach Flashes	Green tickY	Green tickY	157.1	388.2		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[52]
Sound Heath	Green tickY		4.8	11.9		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[53]
Tabley Mere	Green tickY		44.9	110.9		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[54]
Tatton Meres	Green tickY		90.3	223.2		1963	Template:Nature on the map	[55]
Taylor's Rough & Wellmeadow Wood	Green tickY		6.5	16.0		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[56]
The Mere, Mere	Green tickY		19.4	48.0		1985	Template:Nature on the map	[57]
Warburton's Wood and Well Wood	Green tickY		6.9	17.0		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[58]
Well Rough and Long Plantation	Green tickY		8.6	21.2		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[59]
Wettenhall and Darnhall Woods	Green tickY		45.3	111.9		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[60]
Wimboldsley Wood	Green tickY		16.4	40.6		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[61]
Witton Lime Beds	Green tickY		16.4	40.5		1979	Template:Nature on the map	[62]
Woolston Eyes	Green tickY		269.8	666.7		1985	Template:Nature on the map	[63]
Wybunbury Moss	Green tickY	Green tickY	23.2	57.4		1951	Template:Nature on the map	[64]

Notes

All tabulated data are sourced from the Natural England website, and were last updated on 1 March 2010.

^A Data rounded to one decimal place. Area in acres converted from hectare value.

^B Grid reference is based on the British national grid reference system, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the Ordnance Survey.

^C Link to maps using the Nature on the Map service provided by Natural England.

^D Natural England citation sheets for each SSSI.

^E The River Dane and Holly Banks SSSIs overlap.