Charity Land
Encyclopedia
Charity Land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
in the Sedgefield
district of County Durham
, England
. It covers an area on both banks of the River Skerne
, just to the north-east of the village of Trimdon
.
The habitat of the site is unimproved neutral grassland, underlain by magnesian limestone. Once widespread on the limestone plateau of eastern Durham, such grasslands have mostly been destroyed by modern agricultural practices, the few remaining areas being small and highly fragmented. Charity Land is important as one of the few remaining examples of this habitat.
The fields are dominated by grass
species, but a variety of grassland forbs are present.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
in the Sedgefield
Sedgefield (borough)
Sedgefield was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district and borough in County Durham, in North East England. It had a population of about 87,000 . It was named after Sedgefield; but its largest town was Newton Aycliffe...
district of County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It covers an area on both banks of the River Skerne
River Skerne
The River Skerne is a tributary of the River Tees it flows through County Durham in England.The Skerne is about long, the Skerne begins in magnesian limestone hills between Trimdon and Trimdon Grange and ends at Hurworth Place where it joins the River Tees....
, just to the north-east of the village of Trimdon
Trimdon
Trimdon is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated 9 miles west of Hartlepool. It is a former mining village which is adjacent to Trimdon Colliery, Trimdon Grange, Deaf Hill and Trimdon Station...
.
The habitat of the site is unimproved neutral grassland, underlain by magnesian limestone. Once widespread on the limestone plateau of eastern Durham, such grasslands have mostly been destroyed by modern agricultural practices, the few remaining areas being small and highly fragmented. Charity Land is important as one of the few remaining examples of this habitat.
The fields are dominated by grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
species, but a variety of grassland forbs are present.