Hisehope Burn Valley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

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 Derwentside

Derwentside

Derwentside was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England.The district took its name from the River Derwent, which made up part of the northern border of the district. Its main towns were Consett and Stanley, with the district council offices on Consett's Medomsley...

 district of 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 consists of two separate parcels of land, one on the west bank of Hisehope Burn, the other (and larger) a few hundred yards to the east, straddling the headwaters of another small burn

Burn

A burn is an injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction.Burn may also refer to:*Combustion*Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...

. The site is some 3 km west of the village of Castleside

Castleside

Castleside is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the south-west of Consett. The village centre is located on the main A68 road which runs between Edinburgh and Darlington and the village crossroads allow easy access to Consett, the North Pennines and Stanhope...

 and 1 km north of the Smiddy Shaw Reservoir

Smiddy Shaw Reservoir

Smiddy Shaw Reservoir is one of a group of three reservoirs located on Muggleswick Common, County Durham, the others being Waskerley and Hisehope Reservoirs.The reservoir, which was completed by 1872, is owned and operated by Northumbrian Water...

. The larger area adjoins the Muggleswick, Stanhope and Edmundbyers Commons and Blanchland Moor

Muggleswick, Stanhope and Edmundbyers Commons and Blanchland Moor

Muggleswick, Stanhope and Edmundbyers Commons and Blanchland Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham and Northumberland, England...

 SSSI.
The area adjacent to Hisehope Burn is predominantly a soligenous mire

Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...

, with a sparse tree cover of downy birch, Betula pubescens, and alder, Alnus glutinosa; the mire is rich in sedges, Carex spp

Carex

Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...

and bryophyte

Bryophyte

Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...

s and contains several species that are localised in County Durham, including few-flowered spike rush, Eleocharis quinqueflora

Eleocharis quinqueflora

Eleocharis quinqueflora is a species of spikesedge known by the common name fewflower spikerush. This plant has a circumboreal distribution and is also found in the southern half of the United States, as well as Chile. It is a resident of wet meadows, bogs, hot springs, and other moist places. This...

, grass-of-Parnassus, Parnassia palustris

Parnassia palustris

Parnassia palustris, commonly called Marsh Grass-of-Parnassus, Northern Grass-of-Parnassus, and Bog-star, is a species of the genus Parnassia....

, sundew, Drosera rotundifolia

Drosera rotundifolia

Drosera rotundifolia is a species of sundew, a carnivorous plant often found in bogs, marshes and fens...

, and lesser clubmoss, Selaginella selaginoides

Selaginella selaginoides

Selaginella selaginoides is a non-flowering plant of the spikemoss genus Selaginella with a wide distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. It resembles a moss in appearance but is a vascular plant belonging to the division Lycopodiophyta...

.

The other area has one of the most extensive stands of juniper, Juniperus communis

Juniperus communis

Juniperus communis, the Common Juniper, is a species in the genus Juniperus, in the family Cupressaceae. It has the largest range of any woody plant, throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia.-...

, in County Durham. Unlike most populations of juniper in Britain, in which regeneration is, at best, sparse, this community is freely-regenerating and has a diverse age composition.