Cranberry Rough, Hockham

Cranberry Rough, Hockham
Site of Special Scientific Interest
LocationNorfolk
Grid referenceTL 932 935[1]
InterestBiological
Geological
Area81.1 hectares (200 acres)[1]
Notification1984[1]
Location mapMagic Map

Cranberry Rough is an 81.1-hectare (200-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the parish of Hockham, east of Attleborough in Norfolk.[1][2] It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2,[3] and the Great Eastern Pingo Trail, which is a Local Nature Reserve, goes through the site. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site,[4] and it is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area.[5]

The area is the site of a former lake known as Hockham Mere, which was drained and dried up by the middle of the 18th century.[6] It has swamp woodland, grassland, tall fen and a network of ditches and pools, with a diverse range of wetland plants and insects, especially butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Large areas are covered with sphagnum mosses.[7] Its biogenic sediments contain a late-Devensian & Holocene pollen record.[8]

  1. ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Cranberry Rough, Hockham". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Map of Cranberry Rough, Hockham". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  3. ^ Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 214. ISBN 0521-21403-3.
  4. ^ "Hockham Mere (Quaternary of East Anglia)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Designated Sites View: Breckland". Special Protection Areass. Natural England. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Cranberry Rough". Breaking New Ground. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Cranberry Rough, Hockham citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  8. ^ Bennett, K. D. (November 1983). "Devensian Late-Glacial and Flandrian Vegetational History at Hockham Mere, Norfolk, England. I. Pollen Percentages and Concentrations". The New Phytologist. 95 (3): 457–487. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1983.tb03512.x. JSTOR 2434313.