Red Moor (nature reserve)
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
The ponds to the north of Red Moor SSSI, created from old tin mining pits
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Area of Search | Cornwall |
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Grid reference | SX072613 |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Interest | Biological |
Area | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
Notification | 1979 |
Natural England website |
Red Moor is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics, near Lanlivery in mid Cornwall, England, UK.
Geography
The 89-hectare (220-acre) SSSI, notified in 1979, is located mainly within Lanlivery civil parish, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of the town of Lostwithiel. The similarly named hamlet of Redmoor is directly east of the reserve.[1][2]
The nature reserve is owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust/Cornwall Trust for Nature.[3]
History
The river coursing out of the north of the site, a tributary of the River Par, was found to flow through tin-bearing gravels by the early mediaeval period[4] This part of Red Moor was mined for loose tin until the end of the 19th century[5] and the oxidised metal is thought to give the moor its descriptive name.[4]
This SSSI used to belong to the Red Moor–Breney Common SSSI, the two sites having split in the 1986 revision where both sites were expanded.[5] It is adjacent to Helman Tor nature reserve.
Flora and fauna
There are two main habitat types within the site; the dry dwarf-shrub heath to the north and wetter marshy grassland, wetland heath and bog-land in the low-lying basin to the south.[5] The bog contains a variety of Sphagnum peat mosses - that disperse their spores from June to August[3] - bog asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum), and marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris). Other flora on the site include the climbing corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata) and the royal fern (Osmunda regalis).[5]
On the site can be found 13 species of dragonfly and damselfly, which include the scarce blue-tailed damselfly, a nationally rare species. Aquatic beetles are also present on the moor, the very scarce Hydrochus nitidicollis being one, as well as 2 uncommon spiders.[5]
Birds recorded on the site include the willow tit, tree pipit, European nightjar and the Eurasian sparrowhawk.[5]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.