Duddon Estuary
Encyclopedia
The Duddon Estuary is the sandy, gritty estuary of the River Duddon
that lies between Morecambe Bay
and the west Cumbria
n coast.
It opens into the Irish Sea
to the north of the Furness
peninsula; Walney Island
forming part of its southern edge. Its 28 miles (45 km) of shoreline enclose an area of 13 square miles (35 km²), making it the second largest estuary in Cumbria after the Solway Firth
.
The main settlements alongside the Duddon estuary are Haverigg
, Millom
, Foxfield
, Kirkby-in-Furness
, Askam and Ireleth
and Barrow-in-Furness
.
(SSSI) in 1990 with the amalgamation of five previously separate SSSIs: Duddon Sands, Sandscale Haws
, North Walney
, Hodbarrow Lagoon and Haverigg Haws. In 1998 it was classified as a Special Protection Area
(SPA).
It is a significant area for birds with an internationally important breeding population of Sandwich terns that favour the slag banks around Millom
and Askam in Furness
. There are also migratory bird populations of international importance, including Pintail
, Red Knot
and Common Redshank
and, regularly, over 20,000 wintering waterfowl, including Common Shelduck
, Red-breasted merganser
s, Eurasian Oystercatcher
s, Ringed Plover
, Dunlin
and Eurasian Curlew
.
It is also significant for Natterjack Toad
s. The Duddon Estuary supports one fifth of the national population of the rare amphibian that is only found at 50 sites in the UK, of which five are in the Duddon Estuary.
The estuary is botanically rich with salt marsh
, sand dune and shingle communities, including a nationally rare shingle vegetation community at Haverigg
Haws and North Walney.
Shingle species include Sea Sandwort
, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea Rocket and Sea Kale. All the dune grasslands at Sandscale Haws, Haverigg Haws and North Walney support a rich flora with the rare Dune Helleborine.
Development has had no significant effect on the nature conservation interest of the estuary, but it is at risk from coastal defence works, grazing by agricultural stock, sea level rise, recreational pressure and bait digging.
River Duddon
The Duddon is a river of north-west England. It rises at a point above sea level near the Three Shire Stone at the highest point of Wrynose Pass . The river descends to the sea over a course of about before entering the Irish Sea at the Duddon Sands. For its entire length the Duddon forms the...
that lies between Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
and the west Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
n coast.
It opens into the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
to the north of the Furness
Furness
Furness is a peninsula in south Cumbria, England. At its widest extent, it is considered to cover the whole of North Lonsdale, that part of the Lonsdale hundred that is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay....
peninsula; Walney Island
Walney Island
The Isle of Walney, also known as Walney Island, is an island in the United Kingdom which lies off the west coast of England, at the northern tip of Morecambe Bay. It forms part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, and it is separated from the mainland at Barrow by Walney Channel, a narrow channel...
forming part of its southern edge. Its 28 miles (45 km) of shoreline enclose an area of 13 square miles (35 km²), making it the second largest estuary in Cumbria after the Solway Firth
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...
.
The main settlements alongside the Duddon estuary are Haverigg
Haverigg
Haverigg, a village on the south-west coast of Cumbria, England, historically part of the county of Cumberland. It is a ward within the civil parish of Millom, and is within the local government district of Copeland...
, Millom
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...
, Foxfield
Foxfield, Cumbria
Foxfield is a village on the west coast of Cumbria, in the Furness district that was part of Lancashire from 1182 to 1974. It lies on the Duddon Estuary, just outside of the Lake District National Park, around ten miles to the north-east of Barrow-in-Furness and one mile out of Broughton-in-Furness...
, Kirkby-in-Furness
Kirkby-in-Furness
Kirkby-in-Furness is a village in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. It is about 5 km south of Broughton in Furness and 8 km northwest of Ulverston. It is one of the largest villages on the peninsula's north-western coast, looking out over the Duddon estuary and the mountains of the...
, Askam and Ireleth
Askam and Ireleth
During the Middle Ages, the entire area was controlled by the Cistercian monks of Furness Abbey. During this time, Ireleth was little more than one of many farming communities in Furness. The iron ore developments of Askam largely bypassed Ireleth, and the village developed slowly, housing farmers...
and Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
.
Biological importance
The estuary as a whole was designated as a Site of Special Scientific InterestSite 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...
(SSSI) in 1990 with the amalgamation of five previously separate SSSIs: Duddon Sands, Sandscale Haws
Sandscale Haws
Sandscale Haws is a National Nature Reserve on the Duddon Estuary, Cumbria, England. It is managed by the National Trust. The reserve's sand dunes support a population of Natterjack Toads, a species which is nationally rare in Britain....
, North Walney
North Walney
North Walney is a National Nature Reserve on Walney Island, England. The island is an esker. The reserve has an area of 646.5 ha and protects a sand dune system which supports a large number of Natterjack Toads....
, Hodbarrow Lagoon and Haverigg Haws. In 1998 it was classified as a Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
(SPA).
It is a significant area for birds with an internationally important breeding population of Sandwich terns that favour the slag banks around Millom
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...
and Askam in Furness
Askam and Ireleth
During the Middle Ages, the entire area was controlled by the Cistercian monks of Furness Abbey. During this time, Ireleth was little more than one of many farming communities in Furness. The iron ore developments of Askam largely bypassed Ireleth, and the village developed slowly, housing farmers...
. There are also migratory bird populations of international importance, including Pintail
Northern Pintail
The Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator...
, Red Knot
Red Knot
The Red Knot, Calidris canutus , is a medium sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the Great Knot...
and Common Redshank
Common Redshank
The Common Redshank or simply Redshank is an Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.- Description and systematics :...
and, regularly, over 20,000 wintering waterfowl, including Common Shelduck
Common Shelduck
The Common Shelduck is a waterfowl species shelduck genus Tadorna. It is widespread and common in Eurasia, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering in subtropical regions; in winter, it can also be found in the Maghreb...
, Red-breasted merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
The Red-breasted Merganser is a diving duck.-Taxonomy:The Red-breasted Merganser was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae.-Description:...
s, Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Oystercatcher
The Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher, or just Oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western Europe, central Eurasia,...
s, Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
The Common Ringed Plover or Ringed Plover is a small plover.Adults are 17-19.5 cm in length with a 35–41 cm wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes...
, Dunlin
Dunlin
The Dunlin, Calidris alpina, is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East...
and Eurasian Curlew
Eurasian Curlew
The Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia...
.
It is also significant for Natterjack Toad
Natterjack Toad
The Natterjack Toad is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length and are distinguished from Common Toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back...
s. The Duddon Estuary supports one fifth of the national population of the rare amphibian that is only found at 50 sites in the UK, of which five are in the Duddon Estuary.
The estuary is botanically rich with salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
, sand dune and shingle communities, including a nationally rare shingle vegetation community at Haverigg
Haverigg
Haverigg, a village on the south-west coast of Cumbria, England, historically part of the county of Cumberland. It is a ward within the civil parish of Millom, and is within the local government district of Copeland...
Haws and North Walney.
Shingle species include Sea Sandwort
Honckenya peploides
Honckenya peploides or Sea sandwort or Seaside Sandplant is the only species in the genus Honckenya of the flowering plant family Caryophyllaceae. It is often spelled "Honkenya". It has a circumboreal distribution....
, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea Rocket and Sea Kale. All the dune grasslands at Sandscale Haws, Haverigg Haws and North Walney support a rich flora with the rare Dune Helleborine.
Development has had no significant effect on the nature conservation interest of the estuary, but it is at risk from coastal defence works, grazing by agricultural stock, sea level rise, recreational pressure and bait digging.