List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk facts for kids
This page is about SSSIs in Norfolk. For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.
Sunset on Breydon Water
In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (often called SSSIs) are special places chosen by Natural England. Their job is to protect England's amazing nature. When a place is made an SSSI, it gets legal protection. This helps keep its important wildlife and unique rocks safe. As of May 2020, Norfolk has 163 SSSIs. Most of these (123) are important for their plants and animals. Twenty-five are special for their geology (rocks and landforms). And 15 sites are important for both!
Many of these special places in Norfolk have other important titles too. For example, 61 are Special Areas of Conservation and 44 are Special Protection Areas. These are European titles that help protect nature. Thirty-two are Ramsar sites, which means they are wetlands important around the world. Many are also looked after by nature groups like the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (22 sites) and the National Trust (3 sites).
Norfolk is a county in East Anglia. It's about 2,074 square miles (5,370 square kilometers) big. In mid-2017, about 898,400 people lived there. Norfolk has a county council and seven smaller local councils. The county is next to Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, and the North Sea.
Contents
What Makes a Place an SSSI?
SSSIs are chosen for two main reasons:
- B = It's a site of biological interest (important plants, animals, or habitats).
- G = It's a site of geological interest (important rocks, fossils, or land features).
Can You Visit These Places?
Public access to SSSIs can vary:
- FP = You can only use footpaths that go through the site.
- NO = There is no public access to the site.
- PL = You can visit at certain times only.
- PP = You can visit only part of the site.
- YES = You can visit all or most of the site.
Norfolk's Special Natural Sites
| Site Name | Picture | B | G | Area (hectares) | Public Access | Location | What Makes it Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderfen Broad |  |
21.3 | YES | Norwich 52°43′12″N 1°29′02″E / 52.72°N 1.484°E |
This area has open water, woodlands, and reed swamps. Birds like great crested grebes and reed warblers breed here. | ||
| Alderford Common | |
17.5 | YES | Norwich 52°43′12″N 1°08′56″E / 52.720°N 1.149°E |
This common has different habitats like heath, scrub, woodland, and ponds. Old chalk quarries have grasslands with many plant species. Bats use an old lime kiln. | ||
| Ant Broads and Marshes | |
745.3 | PP | Great Yarmouth 52°44′20″N 1°30′07″E / 52.739°N 1.502°E |
This site is in the River Ant valley. It's known as one of the best examples of clean fenland in Western Europe. Its waterways have many water plants. | ||
| Aslacton Parish Land | |
4.4 | NO | Norwich 52°28′52″N 1°10′26″E / 52.481°N 1.174°E |
This site has wet and dry meadows with many different plants. Rare species include marsh arrowgrass and fragrant orchid. Common snipe often nest here. | ||
| Badley Moor | |
18.3 | YES | Dereham 52°39′58″N 0°58′26″E / 52.666°N 0.974°E |
This fen and grassland area in the River Tud valley has special moss carpets and unusual plants. It has tufa hummocks, which are mounds made of calcium carbonate. | ||
| Barnham Cross Common | |
69.1 | YES | Thetford 52°23′53″N 0°44′24″E / 52.398°N 0.740°E |
This common has grasslands and heath with many different plants, including some that are nationally rare. Nearly a hundred bird species live here. | ||
| Bawsey | |
2.6 | NO | King's Lynn 52°44′46″N 0°29′13″E / 52.746°N 0.487°E |
This site has till (glacial sediments) from the Quaternary period, which started about 2.6 million years ago. It's a key site for studying ancient ice ages. | ||
| Beeston Cliffs | |
|
10.3 | YES | Sheringham 52°56′35″N 1°13′37″E / 52.943°N 1.227°E |
This is a very important site for studying the Early Pleistocene period, about 1.8 to 0.8 million years ago. It has both sea and freshwater deposits. A rare plant, purple broomrape, grows here. | |
| Beetley and Hoe Meadows | |
11.4 | PP | Dereham 52°42′54″N 0°55′48″E / 52.715°N 0.930°E |
This is one of Norfolk's best wet grasslands that hasn't been changed by farming. It has plants like glaucous sedge and bog pimpernel. | ||
| Bilsey Hill | |
3.0 | NO | Holt 52°56′02″N 1°00′32″E / 52.934°N 1.009°E |
This site shows layers of glacial till, sands, and gravels from the Pleistocene ice sheet melting. It helps us understand ancient ice ages. | ||
| Blackborough End Pit | |
13.2 | NO | King's Lynn 52°42′07″N 0°28′08″E / 52.702°N 0.469°E |
This site shows how the land was worn away during the Lower Cretaceous period, over 110 million years ago. It helps geologists study ancient landscapes. | ||
| Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fens | |
21.3 | YES | Diss 52°22′12″N 0°57′40″E / 52.370°N 0.961°E |
This site is important for its open carr fen (wetland forest) communities. It also has woodlands and meadows. Rare plants like fen orchid grow here. | ||
| Booton Common | |
8.2 | YES | Norwich 52°45′47″N 1°07′44″E / 52.763°N 1.129°E |
This common has many different habitats, including wet fen grassland and acid heath. Wet areas are rich in plants, and various birds breed here. | ||
| Boughton Fen | |
15.7 | YES | King's Lynn 52°34′59″N 0°32′02″E / 52.583°N 0.534°E |
This valley is covered mostly by tall fen, with some scrub areas for breeding birds. Many uncommon moths, including the rare Perizoma sagittaria, live here. | ||
| Bramerton Pits | |
0.7 | YES | Norwich 52°36′11″N 1°23′20″E / 52.603°N 1.389°E |
These old gravel pits are important for studying the Lower Pleistocene period. They have many ancient sea animal fossils. | ||
| Breckland Farmland | |
13,394.0 | PP | Brandon 52°26′06″N 0°38′28″E / 52.435°N 0.641°E |
This site is important for its large number of stone-curlews. These birds nest on bare ground in farmed fields. | ||
| Breckland Forest | |
|
18,126.0 | PP | Brandon 52°27′07″N 0°40′48″E / 52.452°N 0.680°E |
This forest has many woodlarks and nightjars. It also has rare plants and insects. Geological sites here show the history of East Anglia during the Middle Pleistocene period. | |
| Breydon Water | |
514.4 | PP | Great Yarmouth 52°36′18″N 1°40′48″E / 52.605°N 1.680°E |
This inland tidal estuary has large mudflats at low tide. It provides lots of food for migrating and wintering birds like wildfowl and waders. | ||
| Bridgham and Brettenham Heaths | |
439.9 | YES | Norwich 52°26′31″N 0°49′41″E / 52.442°N 0.828°E |
This dry heath is covered by heather and wavy hair-grass. It also has scrub and woodland. Many birds, including common curlews and nightjars, breed here. | ||
| The Brinks, Northwold | |
16.4 | NO | Thetford 52°31′41″N 0°35′10″E / 52.528°N 0.586°E |
These meadows have tall herbs and grasslands where cattle and sheep graze. Over 140 types of flowering plants have been found here, including the green-winged orchid. | ||
| Briton's Lane Gravel Pit | |
21.5 | NO | Sheringham 52°55′34″N 1°13′30″E / 52.926°N 1.225°E |
This quarry shows gravel and sand left behind by melting ice from the Anglian stage glaciation, about 425,000 years ago. | ||
| Broad Fen, Dilham | |
38.4 | NO | North Walsham 52°46′26″N 1°28′16″E / 52.774°N 1.471°E |
This site has different habitats like fen, carr woodland, and open water. Water plants include bladderwort and white water lily. | ||
| Broome Heath Pit | |
1.2 | YES | Bungay 52°28′23″N 1°27′14″E / 52.473°N 1.454°E |
This site shows rocks from the Wolstonian glaciation, about 350,000 to 130,000 years ago. It has fossils of Arctic plants and animals, showing it was once a tundra environment. | ||
| Bryant's Heath, Felmingham | |
17.7 | YES | North Walsham 52°48′50″N 1°20′56″E / 52.814°N 1.349°E |
Most of this site is dry heath on glacial sands. It also has wet heath, fen, and carr woodland. Several unusual mosses and lichens have been found here. | ||
| Bure Broads and Marshes | |
741.1 | PP | Norwich 52°41′24″N 1°28′23″E / 52.690°N 1.473°E |
This is a very important wetland area in the River Bure floodplain. It has a large area of swamp alder carr (wetland forest). Many rare birds and butterflies live here. | ||
| Burgh Common and Muckfleet Marshes | |
121.5 | FP | Great Yarmouth 52°39′25″N 1°36′22″E / 52.657°N 1.606°E |
The Muck Fleet river runs through this wetland. It has tall fen, fen meadows, and drainage ditches. Rare plants and insects, like the swallowtail butterfly, live here. | ||
| Buxton Heath | |
67.3 | YES | Norwich 52°44′56″N 1°13′12″E / 52.749°N 1.220°E |
This site has dry heath on glacial sands. Its main feature is a mire (a type of wetland) along a small stream. It has rare mosses, liverworts, fungi, and uncommon insects. | ||
| Caistor St Edmund Chalk Pit | |
23.6 | NO | Norwich 52°35′42″N 1°18′22″E / 52.595°N 1.306°E |
This site shows the Beeston Chalk from the late Campanian age, about 75 million years ago. It has many fossils, including molluscs and sea urchins. | ||
| Calthorpe Broad | |
43.5 | NO | Norwich 52°46′37″N 1°34′23″E / 52.777°N 1.573°E |
This broad (lake) has many different plants and animals. Water plants include mare's-tail and the rare water soldier. | ||
| Cantley Marshes | |
272.1 | PP | Norwich 52°34′55″N 1°29′49″E / 52.582°N 1.497°E |
This site in the Yare valley has grasslands and wet alder carr (wetland forest). It has rare dragonflies and an important number of wintering wigeon birds. | ||
| Castle Acre Common | |
17.8 | YES | King's Lynn 52°42′11″N 0°39′58″E / 52.703°N 0.666°E |
This grazing marsh on the River Nar has diverse grasslands. Its marshy areas are good nesting spots for wetland birds. | ||
| Catton Grove Chalk Pit | |
0.6 | NO | Norwich 52°38′56″N 1°17′31″E / 52.649°N 1.292°E |
This Cretaceous site shows rocks from about 75 million years ago. It has well-preserved fossils, including many sponges and important ammonites. | ||
| Cawston and Marsham Heaths | |
116.7 | YES | Norwich 52°46′01″N 1°12′50″E / 52.767°N 1.214°E |
These heaths are mostly covered by heather and have many different lichens. Many heathland birds, like tree pipits and nightjars, breed here. | ||
| Cockthorpe Common, Stiffkey | |
7.1 | YES | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°56′49″N 0°57′07″E / 52.947°N 0.952°E |
This common in the River Stiffkey valley has many chalk grassland plants on its slopes. Herbs like salad burnet and common rock-rose are common. | ||
| Coston Fen, Runhall | |
7.1 | NO | Norwich 52°37′05″N 1°02′35″E / 52.618°N 1.043°E |
This spring-fed site in the Yare valley has various fen habitats. It includes a rare calcareous mire (wetland) with special fen plants. | ||
| Cranberry Rough, Hockham (Hockham Mere) | |
|
81.1 | PP | Thetford 52°30′18″N 0°50′42″E / 52.505°N 0.845°E |
This former lake has swamp woodland, grassland, and many ditches and pools. It has a wide range of wetland plants and insects, especially butterflies and dragonflies. | |
| Cranwich Camp | |
13.1 | YES | Thetford 52°30′58″N 0°36′47″E / 52.516°N 0.613°E |
This old army camp is now grassland. It's very important for insects and plants, with several nationally rare species. Rabbits help keep the diverse plants and insects healthy. | ||
| Crostwick Marsh | |
11.6 | YES | Norwich 52°41′56″N 1°20′46″E / 52.699°N 1.346°E |
This marsh is in the Crostwick Beck valley. It has damp grassland, tall fen, and woodlands. Many marshland birds breed here. | ||
| Damgate Marshes, Acle | |
64.7 | FP | Norwich 52°37′52″N 1°33′47″E / 52.631°N 1.563°E |
These grazing marshes are important wetlands. Their ditches have several uncommon water plants and many different aquatic insects. | ||
| Decoy Carr, Acle | |
56.0 | NO | Norwich 52°37′30″N 1°33′07″E / 52.625°N 1.552°E |
This area has wet carr woodland, fen, and open water. It has rare mosses that show it hasn't changed much since the last ice age. | ||
| Dereham Rush Meadow | |
22.2 | NO | Dereham 52°41′20″N 0°55′08″E / 52.689°N 0.919°E |
This grassland and alder carr (wetland forest) is in the River Wensum valley. It has many different habitats and is often flooded in winter. | ||
| Dersingham Bog | |
|
159.1 | YES | King's Lynn 52°49′52″N 0°28′55″E / 52.831°N 0.482°E |
This is the largest and most complete acid valley mire (wetland) in East Anglia. It's important for birds and insects. Part of the site helps us understand the rock layers from the Lower Cretaceous period. | |
| Didlington Park Lakes | |
26.1 | NO | Thetford 52°32′10″N 0°37′08″E / 52.536°N 0.619°E |
These three man-made lakes are important breeding sites for wildfowl like gadwalls and great crested grebes. | ||
| Dillington Carr | |
50.0 | NO | Dereham 52°42′14″N 0°54′50″E / 52.704°N 0.914°E |
This valley in the River Wensum has large water reservoirs and carr woodland. Many different birds breed here, including barn owls and lesser spotted woodpeckers. | ||
| Ducan's Marsh | |
3.6 | NO | Norwich 52°34′19″N 1°27′00″E / 52.572°N 1.450°E |
This wet grassland is in the River Yare valley. It has fen and fen grassland with many plant species around its springs. | ||
| East Harling Common | |
15.1 | YES | Norwich 52°27′11″N 0°56′20″E / 52.453°N 0.939°E |
This site is important for its pingos (ground ice depressions from ancient cold periods). It also has chalk grassland and rich fen areas. | ||
| East Runton Cliffs | |
20.6 | YES | Cromer 52°56′17″N 1°16′16″E / 52.938°N 1.271°E |
The foreshore here shows sediments from the Lower Pleistocene period. It has many fossils, including extinct horses, rhinoceroses, and elephants. | ||
| East Ruston Common | |
39.5
="center"|YES |
Norwich 52°47′56″N 1°28′23″E / 52.799°N 1.473°E |
This area has fen, heath, and carr woodland in the River Ant valley. It's the only known place in England for the rare spider, Acanthophyma gowerensis. | |||
| East Walton and Adcock's Common | |
|
62.4 | YES | King's Lynn 52°42′54″N 0°34′08″E / 52.715°N 0.569°E |
These commons have depressions from ancient cold periods and chalk ridges. They have diverse chalk grasslands and many rare insects. | |
| East Winch Common | |
26.1 | YES | King's Lynn 52°42′47″N 0°30′54″E / 52.713°N 0.515°E |
This site is mostly wet acid heath on peat, covered by heather. It has many wet hollows with diverse fen and mire (wetland) plants. | ||
| East Wretham Heath | |
141.1 | YES | Thetford 52°27′29″N 0°48′29″E / 52.458°N 0.808°E |
This site is important for its Breckland grassland and two meres (lakes) that change water levels. This creates unusual plant communities that can handle both wet and dry conditions. | ||
| Eaton Chalk Pit | |
0.2 | NO | Norwich 52°36′36″N 1°15′40″E / 52.610°N 1.261°E |
These old chalk mines are used by hibernating bats. Up to 40 bats, including Daubenton's, Natterer's, and brown long-eared bats, use the mines. | ||
| Edgefield Little Wood | |
5.3 | YES | Melton Constable 52°51′47″N 1°07′44″E / 52.863°N 1.129°E |
This is an ancient woodland on sandy and gravelly soils. It has old oak trees that were cut in a special way called coppicing. | ||
| Elm Road Field, Thetford | |
5.0 | YES | Thetford 52°20′24″N 0°43′52″E / 52.340°N 0.731°E |
This open area has grassland with many different plants. It has several uncommon plants, including the nationally endangered field wormwood. | ||
| Felbrigg Woods | |
164.6 | YES | Norwich 52°54′47″N 1°15′43″E / 52.913°N 1.262°E |
Ancient trees in this wood have over fifty types of lichen, some of which are rare in East Anglia. These lichens show that the woodland has been undisturbed for a long time. | ||
| Field Barn Heaths, Hilborough | |
17.9 | NO | Thetford 52°34′52″N 0°40′55″E / 52.581°N 0.682°E |
This sandy grassland is kept healthy by rabbits grazing. It has many different plants. There are also areas of ungrazed grassland and oak and hawthorn woodland. | ||
| Flordon Common | |
9.9 | YES | Norwich 52°31′44″N 1°12′54″E / 52.529°N 1.215°E |
Springs here create a rich calcareous fen (wetland), including the very rare narrow-mouthed whorl snail. Higher up, there's chalk grassland with many rare plants. | ||
| Forncett Meadows | |
5.2 | FP | Norwich 52°29′17″N 1°11′13″E / 52.488°N 1.187°E |
This site in the River Tas valley has different types of grassland due to varying soil and wetness. It also has ponds and areas of scrub and alder woodland. | ||
| Foulden Common | |
139.0 | YES | Thetford 52°34′12″N 0°35′46″E / 52.570°N 0.596°E |
This common has a mix of habitats, like acidic and calcareous grassland, birch woodland, and rich fen. Plants like purple moor-grass and black bog rush are found here. | ||
| Foxley Wood | |
124.2 | YES | Dereham 52°45′40″N 1°02′35″E / 52.761°N 1.043°E |
This is the largest ancient woodland in Norfolk. It has many different plants (over 250 species) and rare butterflies like the purple emperor. | ||
| Fritton Common, Morningthorpe | |
20.5 | YES | Norwich 52°28′55″N 1°16′19″E / 52.482°N 1.272°E |
This damp, acidic meadow is grazed by cattle. Old trees have many different lichens, some of which are rare. It has natural ponds with diverse insects. | ||
| Gawdyhall Big Wood, Harleston | |
29.8 | NO | Harleston 52°24′58″N 1°18′25″E / 52.416°N 1.307°E |
This ancient wood has coppiced hornbeam, ash, and hazel trees. The plants on the ground are very diverse, especially around the hornbeams. | ||
| Geldeston Meadows | |
14.0 | NO | Beccles 52°28′12″N 1°31′34″E / 52.470°N 1.526°E |
These meadows in the River Waveney floodplain have many different plants. Most of the site is wet grassland with plants like sweet vernal grass. | ||
| Glandford (Hurdle Lane) | |
9.4 | NO | Holt 52°55′55″N 1°03′11″E / 52.932°N 1.053°E |
This quarry shows layers of deposits from Pleistocene glaciers. It helps scientists understand the glacial history of the area. | ||
| Glandford (Letheringsett Road) | |
1.1 | NO | Holt 52°55′41″N 1°02′13″E / 52.928°N 1.037°E |
This site has mounds of gravel and till (glacial sediment). It helps scientists figure out how the North Norfolk till plain was formed by glaciers. | ||
| Gooderstone Warren | |
21.6 | NO | Thetford 52°34′37″N 0°38′42″E / 52.577°N 0.645°E |
This sandy site has different types of grassland, from acid to calcareous. A pit at the north end has plants like cowslips and the uncommon purple milk vetch. | ||
| Great Cressingham Fen | |
14.3 | NO | Thetford 52°35′10″N 0°43′30″E / 52.586°N 0.725°E |
This spring-fed valley has different types of plants, from dry grassland to tall fen. It has many different plants, including some uncommon species. | ||
| Great Yarmouth North Denes | |
100.8 | YES | Great Yarmouth 52°37′55″N 1°44′13″E / 52.632°N 1.737°E |
These beaches have a full range of dune plants, from new dunes to old dry grasslands. This site has the largest breeding colony of little terns in Britain. | ||
| Grime's Graves | |
|
66.1 | YES | Brandon 52°28′41″N 0°40′12″E / 52.478°N 0.670°E |
This heath has many different plant communities. Five types of bats use the old Neolithic flint mines for winter roosting. | |
| Grimston Warren Pit | |
6.7 | NO | King's Lynn 52°46′16″N 0°28′44″E / 52.771°N 0.479°E |
This old quarry is important for dating the layers of rock from the Lower Cretaceous period in north Norfolk. It has ammonite fossils from about 130 million years ago. | ||
| Gunton Park Lake | |
18.3 | NO | Norwich 52°51′43″N 1°17′46″E / 52.862°N 1.296°E |
This man-made lake has the largest group of gadwall birds in Britain after breeding season. Many other wildfowl also spend the winter here. | ||
| Hall Farm Fen, Hemsby | |
9.2 | YES | Great Yarmouth 52°41′35″N 1°40′08″E / 52.693°N 1.669°E |
This fen grassland and dykes are grazed by horses and cattle. It has many different plants, including orchids. The dykes have a rare freshwater snail. | ||
| Halvergate Marshes | |
1,432.7 | PP | Norwich 52°35′17″N 1°36′29″E / 52.588°N 1.608°E |
These grazing marshes have many different water plants in their ditches, which are important worldwide. Many bird species live here, with large numbers of wintering Bewick's swans. | ||
| Happisburgh Cliffs | |
6.1 | YES | Happisburgh 52°49′34″N 1°31′59″E / 52.826°N 1.533°E |
These cliffs are unique because they show three different glacial deposits. They range from 1.9 million years ago to the Anglian stage 450,000 years ago, which was a very cold ice age. | ||
| Hardley Flood | |
49.8 | YES | Norwich 52°32′31″N 1°30′29″E / 52.542°N 1.508°E |
This area of lagoons and reedbeds helps manage water from the River Chet. The reedbeds are nesting sites for many birds. Three rare types of flies have been found here. | ||
| Heacham Brick Pit | |
0.8 | NO | King's Lynn 52°53′56″N 0°29′42″E / 52.899°N 0.495°E |
This is the only place where you can see the Snettisham Clay from the Lower Cretaceous period. It has ammonite fossils from about 130 million years ago. | ||
| Hedenham Wood | |
23.4 | NO | Bungay 52°29′56″N 1°24′22″E / 52.499°N 1.406°E |
Most of this ancient wood has hornbeam trees that were coppiced (cut back to grow new shoots). The plants on the ground are very diverse, with some uncommon species. | ||
| Hilgay Heronry | |
1.8 | NO | Downham Market 52°33′58″N 0°24′40″E / 52.566°N 0.411°E |
This small wood has a very important breeding colony of grey herons, with about forty nests each year. Nearby ditches in The Fens provide feeding areas. | ||
| Hockering Wood | |
89.5 | NO | Dereham 52°41′13″N 1°03′50″E / 52.687°N 1.064°E |
This is one of the largest ancient woodlands in the county. It has many rare mosses and ponds with great crested newts, which are protected. | ||
| Holkham Brick Pit | |
0.5 | NO | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°57′00″N 0°46′12″E / 52.950°N 0.770°E |
This site best shows the Hunstanton Till, a glacial deposit from the last glacial period. This is as far as the ice reached in East Anglia about 26,000 years ago. | ||
| Holly Farm Meadow, Wendling | |
2.6 | NO | Dereham 52°40′48″N 0°51′43″E / 52.680°N 0.862°E |
This meadow in the River Wensum valley has calcareous springs that support diverse fen grassland. The meadow is kept healthy by seasonal grazing. | ||
| Holt Lowes | |
49.9 | YES | Holt 52°53′38″N 1°06′04″E / 52.894°N 1.101°E |
This site is mostly dry, sandy heath in the River Glaven valley. It has a mire (wetland) along a stream. The plant wood horsetail grows here, which is its only known location in East Anglia. | ||
| Honeypot Wood | |
9.5 | YES | Dereham 52°41′31″N 0°51′25″E / 52.692°N 0.857°E |
This is an ancient wood on calcareous soil. It has a rich ground layer with plants like dog's mercury and greater butterfly-orchid. Over 200 plant species have been recorded. | ||
| Hooks Well Meadows, Great Cressingham | |
15.6 | NO | Thetford 52°34′37″N 0°42′36″E / 52.577°N 0.710°E |
This site has a long history of traditional management. It has diverse habitats like fen meadow, wet grassland, and wet alder woodland with Sphagnum mosses. | ||
| Horningtoft Wood | |
8.3 | NO | Dereham 52°46′34″N 0°53′13″E / 52.776°N 0.887°E |
This ancient wood has very diverse ground plants, including several rare species. It has scattered mature oaks and coppiced hazel and ash. | ||
| Horse Wood, Mileham | |
7.1 | NO | King's Lynn 52°43′52″N 0°50′38″E / 52.731°N 0.844°E |
This is an ancient wood with diverse ground plants, including several rare species. It has wide, wet paths with plants like herb paris and water mint. | ||
| Hunstanton Cliffs | |
|
4.6 | YES | Hunstanton 52°56′56″N 0°29′35″E / 52.949°N 0.493°E |
These eroding cliffs show rock layers from the mid-Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago. They have many ammonite fossils. Fulmar birds breed on the cliff face. | |
| Hunstanton Park Esker | |
17.3 | NO | Hunstanton 52°56′20″N 0°31′16″E / 52.939°N 0.521°E |
This is a 1.5 km long esker, which is a winding ridge of sand and gravel left by glaciers during the Devensian period (115,000 to 11,700 years ago). It's an uncommon landform in this part of England. | ||
| Islington Heronry | |
1.3 | NO | King's Lynn 52°43′05″N 0°19′12″E / 52.718°N 0.320°E |
This group of mature oaks has the largest breeding colony of grey herons in the county, with about eighty nests each year. Other woodland birds also live here. | ||
| Kelling Heath | |
89.4 | YES | Holt 52°55′55″N 1°07′30″E / 52.932°N 1.125°E |
This heath is a great example of "oceanic heathland." It's mostly covered by heather and gorse. Dry conditions here are good for reptiles like common lizards and adders. | ||
| Kenninghall and Banham Fens with Quidenham Mere | |
48.4 | NO | Norwich 52°26′53″N 1°00′00″E / 52.448°N 1.000°E |
This site in the River Whittle valley has a lake, tall fen, wet woodland, and grassland. Springs feed an area of fen grassland with plants like purple moor grass. | ||
| Leet Hill, Kirby Cane | |
6.5 | NO | Bungay 52°28′55″N 1°30′14″E / 52.482°N 1.504°E |
This quarry shows layers of deposits from the Middle Pleistocene period. It helps explain how ancient rivers and glaciers shaped the land. | ||
| Leziate, Sugar and Derby Fens | |
87.9 | YES | King's Lynn 52°45′14″N 0°31′05″E / 52.754°N 0.518°E |
These fens have large heaths and wet acidic grasslands. They also have smaller areas of damp woodland and rich calcareous grassland. Derby Fen has many ant-hills. | ||
| Limpenhoe Meadows | |
12.0 | NO | Norwich 52°34′23″N 1°32′13″E / 52.573°N 1.537°E |
This fen grassland in the River Yare valley has many different plants, including some uncommon species. The ditches have rare water plants like sharp-leaved pondweed. | ||
| Lower Wood, Ashwellthorpe | |
37.9 | YES | Norwich 52°32′17″N 1°09′11″E / 52.538°N 1.153°E |
This ancient wood has many different plants on the ground, including uncommon species like wood spurge and early-purple orchid. | ||
| Ludham - Potter Heigham Marshes | |
101.5 | PP | Great Yarmouth 52°42′18″N 1°33′40″E / 52.705°N 1.561°E |
This is a very important wetland site and one of the best examples of traditionally managed grazing marsh in Broadland. Its ditches have many different water plants and insects, especially dragonflies. | ||
| Mattishall Moor | |
5.5 | NO | Dereham 52°39′54″N 0°59′46″E / 52.665°N 0.996°E |
This fen and marshy grassland has many different plants. Black bog-rush and purple moor-grass are common in the fen areas. | ||
| Middle Harling Fen | |
11.8 | NO | Norwich 52°25′44″N 0°55′23″E / 52.429°N 0.923°E |
This valley fen has several springs and many different types of grassland. It has uncommon plants like adder's tongue and yellow rattle. Many different birds breed here. | ||
| Morston Cliff | |
1.0 | YES | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°57′25″N 0°57′40″E / 52.957°N 0.961°E |
This important Pleistocene site has the only raised beach deposit from an interglacial period in East Anglia. It's believed to be from about 125,000 years ago. | ||
| Mundesley Cliffs | |
29.3 | YES | North Walsham 52°52′08″N 1°27′07″E / 52.869°N 1.452°E |
The cliffs here show some of the best sea and freshwater deposits from the Cromerian interglacial period. They also show the early stages of the Anglian glaciation, which began about 478,000 years ago. | ||
| Narborough Railway Embankment | |
7.9 | PL | King's Lynn 52°40′16″N 0°35′35″E / 52.671°N 0.593°E |
This old railway embankment is probably the most diverse chalk grassland site in the county. It has many flowering plants that attract a wide range of butterflies. | ||
| New Buckenham Common | |
20.9 | YES | Norwich 52°28′30″N 1°04′48″E / 52.475°N 1.080°E |
This grassland is traditionally managed by grazing. It has the largest group of green-winged orchids in the county. There's also a stream and pool with water plants. | ||
| North Norfolk Coast | |
|
7,862.3 | PP | King's Lynn 52°58′16″N 0°48′54″E / 52.971°N 0.815°E |
This large site has many coastal habitats, including some of the best coastal marshes in Britain and Europe. The breeding birds are very important, including a large number of sandwich terns and the biggest colony of little terns in western Europe. | |
| Old Bodney Camp | |
32.8 | NO | Thetford 52°33′25″N 0°43′30″E / 52.557°N 0.725°E |
This heath is kept healthy by rabbits grazing. It has areas of grassland and areas covered by lichen and moss. Two nationally rare moths live here. | ||
| Old Buckenham Fen | |
34.5 | PP | Attleborough 52°29′13″N 1°00′47″E / 52.487°N 1.013°E |
This valley fen has wet meadows grazed by cattle, reedbeds, a mere (lake), and ditches. Plants in wetter areas include ragged robin and marsh thistle. | ||
| Ouse Washes | |
2,513.6 | PP | Ely 52°28′08″N 0°11′31″E / 52.469°N 0.192°E |
The Washes are very important around the world for birds like teal, wigeons, and Bewick's swans that spend winter or breed here. The site also has rich water animals and plants. | ||
| Overstrand Cliffs | |
|
57.8 | YES | Cromer 52°55′26″N 1°19′30″E / 52.924°N 1.325°E |
These soft cliffs are always changing, which creates a habitat for special insects like rare beetles. The cliff is important for its layers of Pleistocene glacial deposits. | |
| Paston Great Barn | |
1.0 | NO | North Walsham 52°51′29″N 1°26′53″E / 52.858°N 1.448°E |
This old barn is home to one of the few maternity colonies of barbastelle bats in Britain. This bat species is rare and threatened in Europe. Other bat colonies also live here. | ||
| Poplar Farm Meadows, Langley | |
7.5 | NO | Norwich 52°33′54″N 1°29′42″E / 52.565°N 1.495°E |
This calcareous fen is fed by springs and is on the edge of the River Yare floodplain. It has many different plants, including some uncommon species. | ||
| Potter and Scarning Fens, East Dereham | |
6.2 | YES | Dereham 52°40′08″N 0°55′48″E / 52.669°N 0.930°E |
These valleys have calcareous fens on peat with many different plants, including uncommon mosses and liverworts. Insects include the nationally rare small red damselfly. | ||
| Potter's Carr, Cranworth | |
6.3 | NO | Thetford 52°35′53″N 0°55′19″E / 52.598°N 0.922°E |
This area of alder carr (wetland forest) and wet pasture is next to the River Blackwater. Its plants are typical of ancient woodland. Wintering birds include water rails. | ||
| Priory Meadows, Hickling | |
23.9 | NO | Norwich 52°46′16″N 1°34′44″E / 52.771°N 1.579°E |
This grassland on damp, acidic peat soil is managed traditionally. It has many different plants like tormentil and marsh cinquefoil. It also has ditches with water plants. | ||
| Pulham Market Big Wood | |
4.7 | YES | Diss 52°27′32″N 1°14′38″E / 52.459°N 1.244°E |
This ancient wood is likely the last part of a much larger woodland. It has mature pedunculate oaks and an overgrown coppice layer. | ||
| Redgrave and Lopham Fens | |
127.0 | YES | Diss 52°22′34″N 1°00′04″E / 52.376°N 1.001°E |
This spring-fed valley at the start of the River Waveney has different types of fen plants. It has water plants that show low pollution levels. This site is the only known place in Britain for fen raft spiders. | ||
| Ringstead Downs | |
6.9 | YES | Hunstanton 52°55′52″N 0°30′50″E / 52.931°N 0.514°E |
This dry chalk valley was formed by melting glaciers. It has many different plant species because it has never been ploughed. It's the largest chalk downland left in the county. | ||
| River Nar | |
212.3 | PP | King's Lynn 52°42′40″N 0°40′55″E / 52.711°N 0.682°E |
The upper part of the River Nar has 78 types of river and bankside plants. The most common fish are brown trout, pike, and roach. | ||
| River Wensum | |
386.0 | PP | Dereham 52°45′58″N 0°58′01″E / 52.766°N 0.967°E |
This river is a great example of a rich, calcareous lowland river. It has many different insects and over 100 plant species. | ||
| Rosie Curston's Meadow, Mattishall | |
2.3 | NO | Dereham 52°40′08″N 1°01′01″E / 52.669°N 1.017°E |
This meadow is grazed by cattle. It has over sixty grass species and many different herbs, including green-winged orchid and bee orchid. | ||
| Roydon Common | |
194.9 | YES | King's Lynn 52°46′23″N 0°29′53″E / 52.773°N 0.498°E |
This common is one of Britain's best examples of a mixed valley mire (wetland). It has different habitats like wet acid heath and dry heath. It's home to rare plants, birds, and insects, including the black darter dragonfly. | ||
| Scoulton Mere | |
34.2 | NO | Norwich 52°34′23″N 0°55′44″E / 52.573°N 0.929°E |
The main interest here is the swamp, fen, and bog plants on the islands in the mere (lake) and along its shore. The largest island has lots of Sphagnum moss and the rare crested buckler fern. | ||
| Sea Mere, Hingham | |
36.3 | NO | Norwich 52°34′12″N 1°00′04″E / 52.570°N 1.001°E |
This site has a natural lake, fen, grazing marsh, and woodland. The fen has many different plants, including the rare green figwort. | ||
| Setchey | |
33.4 | NO | King's Lynn 52°41′28″N 0°24′47″E / 52.691°N 0.413°E |
This site helps us understand how sea levels changed during the Holocene period, since the last ice age (11,700 years ago). It has three layers of peat. | ||
| Sexton Wood | |
39.0 | NO | Bungay 52°28′26″N 1°22′55″E / 52.474°N 1.382°E |
This ancient wood is mostly coppiced with standard trees, but some areas are high forest. The plants on the ground are diverse, with dog's mercury being common. | ||
| Shallam Dyke Marshes, Thurne | |
69.8 | NO | Great Yarmouth 52°41′38″N 1°33′00″E / 52.694°N 1.550°E |
This grazing marsh in the River Thurne valley is important for wading birds like lapwings and common snipe. It has various water plants, including the rare water soldier. | ||
| Shelfanger Meadows | |
10.3 | NO | Diss 52°24′11″N 1°05′56″E / 52.403°N 1.099°E |
This site in the River Waveney valley is one of Norfolk's most important areas of untouched grassland. It has been managed traditionally for hundreds of years, making its plant life very rich. | ||
| Sheringham and Beeston Regis Commons | |
24.9 | YES | Sheringham 52°56′02″N 1°13′08″E / 52.934°N 1.219°E |
These commons have dry heathland with breeding birds and reptiles. Wet fen areas have springs. Calcareous mires (wetlands) have uncommon plants like butterwort. | ||
| Shotesham Common | |
21.6 | YES | Norwich 52°32′56″N 1°18′07″E / 52.549°N 1.302°E |
This site has traditionally managed meadows with different types of grassland. It ranges from wet marshes to drier grasslands on slopes. Several uncommon plant species grow here. | ||
| Shotesham-Woodton Hornbeam Woods | |
40.4 | NO | Norwich 52°30′58″N 1°19′26″E / 52.516°N 1.324°E |
This site includes four ancient hornbeam woods. The plants on the ground are rich with several uncommon species, such as herb paris and greater butterfly orchid. | ||
| Sidestrand and Trimingham Cliffs | |
|
133.9 | YES | Norwich 52°54′07″N 1°22′52″E / 52.902°N 1.381°E |
These crumbling cliffs show both Pleistocene sediments and many invertebrate fossils from the late Cretaceous period. They have several rare beetles and the rare plant purple broomrape. | |
| Smallburgh Fen | |
7.6 | YES | Norwich 52°46′05″N 1°26′46″E / 52.768°N 1.446°E |
This spring-fed fen is in the River Ant valley. It has many different plants, including several rare species. It's the only known place in the county for the moss Bracthythecium mildeanum. | ||
| Snettisham Carstone Quarry | |
11.0 | NO | King's Lynn 52°53′02″N 0°30′11″E / 52.884°N 0.503°E |
This is the only known place in Britain for the micro-moth Nothris verbascella. Its food plant, hoary mullein, grows in the unused parts of the quarry. | ||
| Southrepps Common | |
5.6 | YES | Norwich 52°51′54″N 1°21′29″E / 52.865°N 1.358°E |
This damp grassland and fen is in the River Ant valley. It has several rare flies that are found in undisturbed wetlands. | ||
| St James' Pit | |
3.5 | YES | Norwich 52°38′10″N 1°18′36″E / 52.636°N 1.310°E |
This site is important for its fossils of two types of mosasaurs. These were large marine reptiles from the Upper Cretaceous period. | ||
| Stanford Training Area | |
|
4,678.0 | NO | Thetford 52°30′47″N 0°45′14″E / 52.513°N 0.754°E |
This site has a large area of rich Breckland grassland and heath. Its wetlands and pools have wildfowl and many rare insects. Part of the site, the Devil's Punchbowl, is important for its deep depression formed by collapsing glacial sands. | |
| Stanley and Alder Carrs, Aldeby | |
42.7 | NO | Beccles 52°28′41″N 1°34′52″E / 52.478°N 1.581°E |
Most of this site is alder carr woodland next to the River Waveney, which often floods. It has many different insects. It also has open fen areas with plants like common reed. | ||
| Stiffkey Valley | |
44.4 | NO | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°57′07″N 0°57′00″E / 52.952°N 0.950°E |
This valley has many different wetland habitats in the River Stiffkey floodplain. It has many breeding birds, including important numbers of avocets. Wintering birds like bitterns and brent geese also visit. | ||
| Swangey Fen, Attleborough | |
48.4 | PP | Attleborough 52°29′56″N 0°57′50″E / 52.499°N 0.964°E |
Part of this site is a spring-fed fen with many different plants, including grass of Parnassus and several rare mosses. The fen is surrounded by wet woodland and grassland. | ||
| Swannington Upgate Common | |
20.5 | YES | Norwich 52°43′01″N 1°10′44″E / 52.717°N 1.179°E |
This site has varied habitats, including glacial sands and gravels, peat, dry and wet heath, woodland, and ponds. It has many different breeding birds. | ||
| Swanton Novers Woods | |
83.0 | NO | Melton Constable 52°50′38″N 0°58′44″E / 52.844°N 0.979°E |
These ancient woods are very old and are considered some of the most important in the country. The trees and ground plants are very diverse, and they include the nationally rare may lily. | ||
| Sweetbriar Road Meadows, Norwich | |
9.7 | NO | Norwich 52°38′24″N 1°15′43″E / 52.640°N 1.262°E |
These meadows in the River Wensum valley are always waterlogged and are grazed by ponies. Plants here include yellow rattle and southern marsh orchid. | ||
| Syderstone Common | |
43.7 | YES | King's Lynn 52°51′07″N 0°42′58″E / 52.852°N 0.716°E |
This common has heath and grassland areas in the River Tat valley. Pools on sand and gravel are good homes for five types of breeding amphibians, including the nationally rare natterjack toad. | ||
| Thetford Golf Course and Marsh | |
122.3 | PP | Thetford 52°25′12″N 0°42′43″E / 52.420°N 0.712°E |
Dry grass heath covers much of this site. It also has areas of lichen and heather with many different plants. Horse Meadows has wet, peaty areas with fenland plants and alder woodland. | ||
| Thompson Water, Carr and Common | |
154.7 | YES | Thetford 52°31′26″N 0°50′31″E / 52.524°N 0.842°E |
This grassland site in the River Wissey valley has pingos (damp depressions formed by melting ice from the last ice age). It also has a lake, Thompson Water, which is important for breeding birds. | ||
| Tindall Wood, Ditchingham | |
42.2 | NO | Bungay 52°29′20″N 1°25′34″E / 52.489°N 1.426°E |
This is one of the largest hornbeam woods in Norfolk. It's an ancient wood with standard trees like oak and ash. Several uncommon plant species grow on the ground. | ||
| Trinity Broads | |
316.8 | PP | Great Yarmouth 52°40′34″N 1°38′35″E / 52.676°N 1.643°E |
This site has five connected lakes in a side valley of the River Bure. It also has reed swamp, wet woodland, and fen. Many wildfowl breed here, and there are rare insects like the swallowtail butterfly. | ||
| Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes | |
1,185.9 | PP | Norwich 52°44′02″N 1°36′18″E / 52.734°N 1.605°E |
This is one of Britain's best wetland areas. It's important around the world for its wetland plants and animals. It has four lakes and smaller water bodies, swamp, fen, woodland, and grazing marsh. | ||
| Upton Broad and Marshes | |
195.4 | YES | Norwich 52°40′05″N 1°32′10″E / 52.668°N 1.536°E |
This site is an excellent example of untouched wetland and grazing marsh. It has many different insects, including eighteen types of freshwater snails and the nationally rare Norfolk hawker dragonfly. | ||
| Warham Camp | |
5.1 | YES | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°55′44″N 0°53′20″E / 52.929°N 0.889°E |
This untouched chalk grassland is heavily grazed by rabbits and cattle. It has many different herbs like common rock-rose and butterflies, including the chalkhill blue. | ||
| The Wash | |
62,045.6 | PP | Spalding 52°56′13″N 0°17′10″E / 52.937°N 0.286°E |
The Wash is very important for common seals to breed. It's also very important for wading birds and wildfowl that spend the winter here, feeding on the many insects. | ||
| Wayland Wood, Watton | |
31.7 | YES | Thetford 52°33′36″N 0°50′17″E / 52.560°N 0.838°E |
This natural wood is managed by coppicing. Breeding birds include woodcocks, lesser spotted woodpeckers, and nuthatches. | ||
| Weeting Heath | |
141.8 | PL | Brandon 52°27′54″N 0°35′10″E / 52.465°N 0.586°E |
This grass and lichen heath is grazed by rabbits. It has many breeding birds, including stone-curlews. One field is kept for uncommon Breckland plants. | ||
| Wells Chalk Pit | |
|
4.0 | YES | Wells-next-the-Sea 52°56′56″N 0°52′12″E / 52.949°N 0.870°E |
This quarry has chalk grassland with many orchids in areas that haven't been used for years. It's also important geologically for its glacial deposits. | |
| West Runton Cliffs | |
17.8 | YES | Cromer 52°56′28″N 1°15′11″E / 52.941°N 1.253°E |
These cliffs are important because they show a series of warm and cold periods in the middle Pleistocene (about 2 million to 400,000 years ago). They show how the sea advanced and retreated. | ||
| Westwick Lakes | |
9.8 | NO | Norwich 52°47′38″N 1°22′16″E / 52.794°N 1.371°E |
Many wildfowl spend the winter on these five man-made lakes. They have unusual water plants like lesser reedmace and sweet flag. | ||
| Weybourne Cliffs | |
|
40.9 | YES | Sheringham 52°56′46″N 1°10′23″E / 52.946°N 1.173°E |
This Pleistocene site is where the Pastonian Weybourne Crag Formation was first studied. Its fossils of sea molluscs have been studied for 200 years. Sand martins nest in the cliffs. | |
| Weybourne Town Pit | |
0.7 | YES | Holt 52°56′35″N 1°08′42″E / 52.943°N 1.145°E |
This is where the Pleistocene 'Marly Drift' was first found. This chalk-rich glacial till was likely deposited during the Anglian stage about 450,000 years ago. | ||
| Whitwell Common | |
19.4 | YES | Norwich 52°44′28″N 1°05′20″E / 52.741°N 1.089°E |
This common in the River Wensum valley has many different wetland plants on peat soils. It also has wet alder woodland, fen, and untouched grassland. | ||
| Wiggenhall St Germans | |
5.2 | YES | King's Lynn 52°41′56″N 0°20′56″E / 52.699°N 0.349°E |
This site shows how sea levels changed during the Quaternary period (the last 2.6 million years). It has three layers of peat that have been studied using pollen. | ||
| Winterton-Horsey Dunes | |
|
427.0 | YES | Great Yarmouth 52°43′59″N 1°40′41″E / 52.733°N 1.678°E |
This site has large dunes, grazing marsh, and birch woodland. It's home to a rare amphibian and a rare butterfly. Geologically, it shows how dynamic dunes develop. | |
| Wiveton Downs | |
|
28.9 | PP | Holt 52°56′38″N 1°00′43″E / 52.944°N 1.012°E |
This is a classic example of an esker, a winding ridge formed by glaciers. It has been very important for teaching and research about geology. | |
| Wretham Park Meres | |
30.0 | NO | Thetford 52°29′28″N 0°48′25″E / 52.491°N 0.807°E |
This site has four natural lakes that are breeding grounds for wildfowl like mallards and gadwalls. Many ducks also spend the winter here. | ||
| Wretton | |
20.6 | PP | King's Lynn 52°33′54″N 0°28′59″E / 52.565°N 0.483°E |
This site shows rock layers from the warm Ipswichian period to the colder Devensian period, about 115,000 years ago. It has the richest collection of early Devensian animal fossils in Britain, including arctic fox and woolly rhinoceros. | ||
| Yare Broads and Marshes | |
744.5 | PP | Norwich 52°36′07″N 1°26′53″E / 52.602°N 1.448°E |
This is a very important wetland site with grazing marsh, open water, fen, and woodland. It has many nationally rare plants and important numbers of wintering wigeon birds. |
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More Places to Explore
- List of Local Nature Reserves in Norfolk
- National Nature Reserves in Norfolk
Sources
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List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.