Moorhouse and Cross Fell
Encyclopedia
Moorhouse and Cross Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
covering an extensive area of moorland
in the Wear Valley
district of west County Durham
and the Eden
district of Cumbria
, England
. It is contiguous with Upper Teesdale
SSSI to the east and Appleby Fells
SSSI to the south. The area covered extends roughly from an arc through the villages of Gamblesby
, Leadgate
and Garrigill
southward as far as Milburn
in the west and Cow Green Reservoir
in the east. It includes the whole of Cross Fell
, the summit of which, at 893 metres asl, is the highest point in the Pennines
and in England outside the Lake District
.
The area is important for its wide variety of upland habitats, especially blanket bog
, sub-montane and montane
heath, montane bryophyte
heath, limestone
grassland
and flushes, and for the fauna and flora that they support. The site also includes a number of localities of geological interest.
More than forty species of birds breed in the area, including several raptors
—merlin
, peregrine
, common buzzard
, common kestrel
, short-eared owl
—and waders—Eurasian golden plover
, dunlin
, common sandpiper
, Northern lapwing
, Eurasian curlew
, common redshank
, and common snipe
—whose survival is threatened; four (merlin, peregrine, golden plover and short-eared owl) are listed in Annex 1 of the European Commission's Birds Directive
as requiring special protection and others (including lapwing and dunlin) are listed in the United Kingdom
's Red Data Book (Birds)
.
The invertebrate
fauna is best known from studies conducted over many years at the Moor House NNR. The area shares many characteristics with the Cairngorms
region of Scotland
but there are some notable rarities, including a rove beetle
, Olophrum assimile, which is known from only one other locality in Britain, a carabid beetle
, Nebria nivalis
, which has not been found anywhere else in the North Pennines
and is known elsewhere in Britain only from North Wales
, the Cairngorms and Scafell Pike
, and a leiodid
beetle, Hydnobius spinipes, which is known from only four other localities in Britain. In all, some 27 endangered species and over 70 nationally scarce species have been recorded from the Moor House reserve.
Although the area has a variety of habitats, it is the montane vegetation that is particularly notable. The summit of Cross Fell is dominated by a heath in which the moss Racromitium lanuginosum is dominant and is the most extensive area of such heath in England. Other notable montane and sub-montane species include hair sedge, Carex capillaris, northern bedstraw, Galium boreale
, mountain everlasting, Antennaria dioica
, and alpine forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris
.
Within the site are five localities of geological interest, of which the following are particularly notable:
. In the course of the revision, parts of the Cross Fell SSSI and Upper Teesdale and Appleby Fells SSSI were amalgamated with Moor House NNR to form the new Moorhouse and Cross Fell SSSI.
In 1975, Moor House NNR was the first site in Britain to be declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO
and in 1983 it was declared a Special Protection Area
under the EC 1979 Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds
.
The site is within the North Pennines
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
.
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...
covering an extensive area of moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
in the Wear Valley
Wear Valley
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council was based in Crook.The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the east it was more urban...
district of west 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...
and the Eden
Eden, Cumbria
Eden is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Penrith. It is named after the River Eden which flows north through the district toward Carlisle....
district of 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...
, 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 is contiguous with Upper Teesdale
Upper Teesdale
Upper Teesdale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of west County Durham, England. It encompasses an extensive upland area that includes the headwaters of the River Tees and the surrounding catchment area upstream of the village of Langdon Beck.The site has a diverse...
SSSI to the east and Appleby Fells
Appleby Fells
Appleby Fells is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Eden district of Cumbria, England....
SSSI to the south. The area covered extends roughly from an arc through the villages of Gamblesby
Gamblesby
Gamblesby is a village near Melmerby in the civil parish of Glassonby, Cumbria, England. It appears first in written records in 1177 as Gamelesbi, and in 1212 as Gamelesby. It was a civil parish until 1934....
, Leadgate
Leadgate, Cumbria
Leadgate is a small hamlet located at the foot of Hartside Fell between the town of Alston and the village of Garrigill in the parish of Alston Moor in Cumbria, England....
and Garrigill
Garrigill
Garrigill, Cumbria is a small village in the North Pennine region of the UK situated on the banks and close to the source of the River South Tyne...
southward as far as Milburn
Milburn, Cumbria
Milburn is a small village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is located on the northern side of the Eden Valley, about east of Penrith. It lies beneath Cross Fell, the highest point of the Pennines and is one of a chain of villages following the contour of the escarpment...
in the west and Cow Green Reservoir
Cow Green Reservoir
Cow Green Reservoir, is a water reservoir long built between 1967 and 1971 to supply the industries of Teesside in England..The reservoir acts as a river regulation reservoir releasing water into the River Tees during dry conditions so that it can be abstracted further downstream...
in the east. It includes the whole of Cross Fell
Cross Fell
Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennine Hills of northern England and the highest point in England outside of the Lake District.The summit, at , is a stony plateau, part of a long ridge running North West to South East, which also incorporates Little Dun Fell at and Great Dun Fell at...
, the summit of which, at 893 metres asl, is the highest point in the Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
and in England outside the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
.
The area is important for its wide variety of upland habitats, especially blanket bog
Blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat...
, sub-montane and montane
Montane
In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
heath, montane 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...
heath, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
and flushes, and for the fauna and flora that they support. The site also includes a number of localities of geological interest.
More than forty species of birds breed in the area, including several raptors
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
—merlin
Merlin (bird)
The Merlin is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere. A bird of prey once known colloquially as a pigeon hawk in North America, the Merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter.-European and North American...
, peregrine
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
, common buzzard
Common Buzzard
The Common Buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.-Description:...
, common kestrel
Common Kestrel
The Common Kestrel is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European Kestrel, Eurasian Kestrel, or Old World Kestrel. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".This species...
, short-eared owl
Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl is a species of typical owl . In Scotland this species of owl is often referred to as a cataface, grass owl or short-horned hootlet. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may...
—and waders—Eurasian golden plover
Eurasian Golden Plover
The European Golden Plover is a largish plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers. American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominiica, and Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva, are both smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than European Golden Plover, and both have grey...
, 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...
, common sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
The Common Sandpiper is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the Spotted Sandpiper , make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize...
, Northern lapwing
Northern Lapwing
The Northern Lapwing , also known as the Peewit, Green Plover or just Lapwing, is a bird in the plover family. It is common through temperate Eurasia....
, 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...
, common redshank
Common Redshank
The Common Redshank or simply Redshank is an Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.- Description and systematics :...
, and common snipe
Common Snipe
The Common Snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia...
—whose survival is threatened; four (merlin, peregrine, golden plover and short-eared owl) are listed in Annex 1 of the European Commission's Birds Directive
Birds Directive
The Birds Directive is a European Union directive adopted in 2009. It replaces Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds which was modified several times and had become very unclear...
as requiring special protection and others (including lapwing and dunlin) are listed in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Red Data Book (Birds)
Regional Red List
A Regional Red List is a report of the threatened status of species within a certain country or region. It is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the conservation status of species on a global scale...
.
The invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
fauna is best known from studies conducted over many years at the Moor House NNR. The area shares many characteristics with the Cairngorms
Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
region of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
but there are some notable rarities, including a rove beetle
Omaliinae
Omaliinae are a subfamily of rove beetles.-Characteristics:Typical adults are 1.5 to 6 mm long, somewhat broader in shape than are most Staphylinidae, with somewhat longer elytra , the head with a broad neck, the antennae of 11 articles which are only slightly broader at the apex, and tarsi of...
, Olophrum assimile, which is known from only one other locality in Britain, a carabid beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
, Nebria nivalis
Nebria nivalis
Nebria nivalis is a ground beetle in the subfamily Nebriinae. It is found mainly in Scandinavia and northern Russia; it is rare in the British Isles, where it occurs at isolated upland locations in North Wales, northern England, Scotland and the west of Ireland.In Scandinavia, N. nivalis is found...
, which has not been found anywhere else in the North Pennines
North Pennines
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north-south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east...
and is known elsewhere in Britain only from North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, the Cairngorms and Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England at . It is located in Lake District National Park sometimes confused with the neighbouring Sca Fell, to which it is connected by the col of Mickledore...
, and a leiodid
Leiodidae
Leiodidae is a family of beetles with around 3800 described species found worldwide. Members of this family are commonly called round fungus beetles due to the globular shape of many species, although some are more elongated in shape...
beetle, Hydnobius spinipes, which is known from only four other localities in Britain. In all, some 27 endangered species and over 70 nationally scarce species have been recorded from the Moor House reserve.
Although the area has a variety of habitats, it is the montane vegetation that is particularly notable. The summit of Cross Fell is dominated by a heath in which the moss Racromitium lanuginosum is dominant and is the most extensive area of such heath in England. Other notable montane and sub-montane species include hair sedge, Carex capillaris, northern bedstraw, Galium boreale
Galium boreale
Galium boreale or Northern Bedstraw is a plant species of the genus Galium.Gallium boreale is edible, with a sweet smell and taste, and can be eaten as a wild salad green...
, mountain everlasting, Antennaria dioica
Antennaria dioica
Antennaria dioica is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae...
, and alpine forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris
Myosotis alpestris
Myosotis alpestris or Alpine Forget-me-not is a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Myosotis.The Alpine Forget-me-not is the county flower of Westmorland in the United Kingdom and the state flower of Alaska....
.
Within the site are five localities of geological interest, of which the following are particularly notable:
- Knock Fell Caverns — situated at the head of Knock Ore Gill, this is the most extensive mazeMazeA maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
cave system in Britain. - Cross Fell — together with the Dun Fells and Knock Fell, this area is important both for its examples of periglacialPeriglacialPeriglacial is an adjective originally referring to places in the edges of glacial areas, but it has later been widely used in geomorphology to describe any place where geomorphic processes related to freezing of water occur...
landforms and because some periglacial processes are still active.
SSSI history
Moorhouse and Cross Fell SSSI was created in 1990 as part of a substantial revision of existing SSSIs that had originally been notified under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949
The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the National Parks Commission which later became the Countryside Commission and then the Countryside Agency, which became Natural England when it merged with English Nature in...
. In the course of the revision, parts of the Cross Fell SSSI and Upper Teesdale and Appleby Fells SSSI were amalgamated with Moor House NNR to form the new Moorhouse and Cross Fell SSSI.
In 1975, Moor House NNR was the first site in Britain to be declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and in 1983 it was declared 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...
under the EC 1979 Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds
Birds Directive
The Birds Directive is a European Union directive adopted in 2009. It replaces Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds which was modified several times and had become very unclear...
.
The site is within the North Pennines
North Pennines
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north-south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
.