The ceremonial county of Somerset consists of three unitary authorities, Somerset (administered by Somerset Council), North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.
Local nature reserves (LNRs) are designated by local authorities under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The local authority must have a legal control over the site, by owning or leasing it or having an agreement with the owner. LNRs are sites which have a special local interest either biologically or geologically, and local authorities have a duty to care for them. They can apply local bye-laws to manage and protect LNRs.
There are 40 local nature reserves in Somerset recognised by Natural England. The smallest is Wellington Basins, which covers of small ponds and surrounding grassland and woodland. This provides a habitat for grey wagtail, dipper and reed bunting. The largest, covering , is Weston Woods on Worlebury Hill, which includes Worlebury Camp Iron Age hill fort. The woodland provides a habitat for mammals including deer, badgers, foxes and bats. Birds include woodpeckers, buzzards and treecreepers. Several of the sites are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The list includes sites owned or managed by both Avon Wildlife Trust and Somerset Wildlife Trust.
Sites
Site Photograph Area Location Map Details DescriptionAsh Priors CommonAsh Priors MapDetailsThis reserve covers unimproved neutral grassland, semi-natural deciduous woodland, wet heath, scrub, carr, stream, ponds and hedgerows. The plants to be found at the site include early marsh-orchid and twayblade orchid while the animals include the eurasian harvest mouse, viviparous lizard and tree pipit. It was the first and is the largest local nature reserve run by Taunton Deane Borough Council.Berrow DunesBerrow MapDetailsThe dunes, west of the village of Berrow, have a golf course, and is a noted site for various unusual plants, including a strong colony of lizard orchids. A area, which includes the reserve, was designated in 1952 as a SSSI. Berrow Marsh, contained within the dunes between the village and the beach, is a mixture of reedbed and salt marsh. Birds found here include many wetland species such as reed and sedge warbler and in winter occasional jack snipe among large numbers of common snipe.Bickenhall Orchard Bickenhall MapDetailsApple trees with mistletoe in a grass orchard with herbs and orchids.Bincombe BeechesCrewkerne MapDetailsThe site has beech trees up to 200 years old, oaks and hazels. Birds include blackbirds, woodpeckers, goldcrests and jackdaws, and there are small mammals such as badgers and foxes.Bucklands Pool/Backwell LakeBackwell MapDetailsThe lake, which is also known as Buckland's Pool is next to the road between Nailsea and Backwell at Buckland's Batch. The lake was built as a balancing pond in the mid-1970s. It has now become a wildlife haven for birds, bats and dragonflies, which are attracted by the open water and surrounding vegetation. Bird species include gadwall, shoveler, pochard, tufted duck, grey heron and mute swans.Cadbury Hill/Henley QuarryYatton MapDetailsThis site comprises ancient semi-natural woodland, scrub and unimproved grassland. Species of interest include marsh tit, noctule bat, slow worm, wood anemone, bluebell, betony, small scabious, rock rose and small leaved lime. On the northern limestone slope grow hundreds of common spotted orchids. The Iron Age hill fort has many ant hills, which are visited by green woodpeckers. The grassy plateau of the hill fort is owned and managed by Yatton and Congresbury Parish Councils.Camerton BatchCamerton MapDetailsThe spoil heap or batch is a result of coal mining on the Somerset Coalfield in the 19th century. Camerton New Pit survived to be nationalised, eventually closing in 1950. In the centre of the village is Camerton Batch which is now covered with conifer. It is important for geology.Carrs WoodlandTwerton MapDetailA woodland area in the valley of Newton Brook. Plants include the bath asparagus.Chard ReservoirChard MapDetailA reservoir which is owned and managed by South Somerset District Council. It is a recipient of the Green Flag Award. The reservoir was built on the river Isle in 1842 to provide water for the Chard Canal which closed in 1868. The site is used for dog walking, fishing and birdwatching, with a bird hide having been installed. Birds which are spotted regularly include herons, egrets, kingfishers, cormorants, grebes, gulls, ducks and also a wide range of woodland birds including nuthatch, treecreeper and woodpeckers. Rarities have included ring-necked duck, great white egret, cattle egret and yellow-browed warbler. The water is stocked with carp.Cheddar Valley Railway WalkYatton to Winscombe MapDetailFollowing the route of the Cheddar Valley Line, this linear reserve passes through the Biddle Street SSSI. The site supports birds, bats, amphibians and reptiles.Children's Wood/RiversideTaunton MapDetailAlongside the River Tone, this reserve provides a habitat corridor for animals. Birds recorded include the kingfisher and grey wagtail. The site is also important for butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.Church and Wains Hill (Poets Walk)Clevedon MapDetailThis reserve includes a hill fort dating from the Iron Age on Wain's Hill and Church Hill. It has calcareous grassland, coastal scrub and woodland.Eastfield, Sedgemoor HillHigh Ham MapDetailGrassland with orchids and butterflies.Eastwood and Battery PointPortishead MapDetailThe Eastwood area is broadleaf woodland on a coastal limestone ridge which leads to Battery Point which had a defensive gun position and Portishead Point Lighthouse is on the promontory. There is also geological interest in the fossils, folds and faults found in the area.Felton CommonWinford MapDetailOpen calcareous grassland with scrub and bracken. There are birds including kestrel, sky lark, song thrush, willow warbler, spotted flycatcher and several species of invertebrates.Folly FarmStowey MapDetailFolly Farm is a traditionally managed visitable farm and nature reserve run by the Avon Wildlife Trust. The farmhouse is 17th century and the surrounding land includes neutral grassland, flowery meadows and woodlands. The nature reserve includes the Folly Oak which is over 400 years old.Frieze Hill Community OrchardTaunton MapDetailThis site has been converted from allotments to rough grassland and an orchard. The kingston black and yarlington mill varieties of apples are among those grown.Gadds ValleyCheddon Fitzpaine MapDetailOpen grassland and woodland.Hurstone Farm WoodlandsWaterrow MapDetailWoodland on the banks of the River Tone. The woodland, hedgerows and open grassland provide a habitat for dormice, otter and several bat species. Bryophyte species include black spleenwort.Kensington MeadowsBath MapDetailMixed woodland and open meadow next to the River Avon.Manor Road Community WoodlandKeynsham MapDetailWoodland and grassland that supports a range of bird species.Middle Hill CommonWeston in Gordano MapDetailGrassland and wild flower meadow, which supports invertebrates and butterflies.Moldrums GroundPenselwood MapDetailThe site includes a dry woodland surrounding unimproved grassland. Ponds on the site provide a habitat for northern crested newt.Netherclay Community WoodlandBishop's Hull MapDetailA woodland with oak, ash, black poplar, dogwood and hazel.Norton HillfortNorton Fitzwarren MapDetailThe site surrounds the Iron Age hill fort of Norton Camp. It consists of woodland of oak, ash, and sycamore trees with an underlying flora of bluebell, wood anemone and moschatel.Otterhead LakesOtterford MapDetailA pair of reservoirs fed by the River Otter and managed by the Otterhead Estate Trust Company Limited, working with the Somerset Wildlife Trust on behalf of Wessex Water. The lakes are the centrepiece of the one mile long nature reserve. It includes dry woodland which has a ground flora including common bluebell, dogs mercury and twayblade. More moist areas are home to marsh penywart, royal fern rhododendron and sycamore. There are dormice, badgers and bats in the woods and bird species include kingfisher, dipper and wagtail.Screech OwlHuntworth MapDetailA wetland area which supports a variety of birds, bats and small mammals.Silk Mills Park and RideTaunton MapDetailLandscaping and ponds in three areas next to the River Tone created when the park and ride was created. The woodland and grassland supports aquatic and marginal vegetation. There are also a variety of birds, bats, reptiles and invertebrates.Silver StreetMidsomer Norton MapDetailAn ancient woodland, next to Midsomer Norton railway station, including ash, beech, field maple, hazel, hawthorn, oak, holly, sycamore and wild cherry. There is also a pond and some adjacent grassland.Slader's LeighWinscombe MapDetailA wildflower meadow with plants including devil's-bit scabious, cowslip, betony, common spotted orchid and tormentil which provide a habitat for a range of butterflies.South Taunton Streams (Mill, Galmington, Blackbrook 1&2)Taunton MapDetailFour sites providing a range of flora which support water voles, otters, kingfisher, sand martin, dippers and bats.St George's Flower BankEaston in Gordano MapDetailFlower meadow alongside a main road.Street HeathGlastonbury MapDetailThe heath is a biological SSSI. The nature reserve is managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust, with examples of plant communities that were once common on the Somerset Levels. It possesses a vegetation consisting of wet and dry heath, species-rich bog and carr woodland, with transitions between all these habitats. Rare ferns present include marsh fern and royal fern. Old peat workings and rhynes have a wetland community which includes bulrush, yellow flag iris, cyperus-like sedge and lesser bur-reed. Insects recorded include 33 species of butterflies, 200 moths and 12 grasshoppers and crickets, with several notable rarities. Birds breeding in the carr woodland include the local willow tit.SwainsWellington MapDetailA meadow with cuckoo flower, meadowsweet, and dove's-foot crane's-bill. There is also a pond which provides a habitat for amphibians including great crested newt, palmate newt and toad.Twerton RoundhillTwerton MapDetailGrassland with a range of wildflowers including greater knapweed and agrimony.Uphill HillUphill MapDetailOpen grassland around a disused quarry. There are a range of flowers including cowslip, primrose and green-winged orchid. This site is adjacent to Walborough Common and together they cover , which is partly coterminous with Uphill Cliff SSSI.Walborough CommonUphill MapDetailSalt marsh with sea barley, slender hare's-ear and sea clover and limestone grassland with Somerset hair-grass, honewort, green-winged and early purple orchids. These attract redshank, dunlin, shelduck, black-tailed godwit, skylark, linnet, rock and meadow pipit. This site is adjacent to Uphill Hill and together they cover , which is partly coterminous with Uphill Cliff SSSI.Weirfield RiversideTaunton MapDetailA linear nature reserve along the bank of the River Tone providing alder and willow woodland, bramble, scrub and rough grassland. The wetter areas which are sometimes flooded include hemlock water dropwort, and yellow flag.Wellington BasinsWellington MapDetailSmall ponds and surrounding grassland and woodland which provide a habitat for grey wagtail, dipper and reed bunting.Weston WoodsWeston-super-Mare MapDetailA wooded area on Worlebury Hill which includes Worlebury Camp Iron Age hill fort. The woodland provides a habitat for mammals including deer, badgers, foxes and bats. Birds include woodpeckers, buzzards and treecreepers.
See also List of national nature reserves in Somerset List of local nature reserves in England List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
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