List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cheshire facts for kids

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.

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.

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