List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon

River flowing through gorge with wooded sides. On the right hand bank is a road
A view of the Avon Gorge, designated as an SSSI for both its biological and its geological interest

This is a list of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in the former county of Avon, England, United Kingdom. In England the body responsible for designating SSSIs is Natural England, which chooses a site because of its fauna, flora, geological or physiographical features.[1] Although the county of Avon no longer exists, Natural England still uses its former borders to mark one of its Areas of Search. As of 2006, there are 86 sites designated in this Area of Search, of which 38 have been designated due to their biological interest, 39 due to their geological interest, and 9 for both.[2]


Natural England took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from English Nature in October 2006 when it was formed from the amalgamation of English Nature, parts of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service. The English counties were revised under the 1974 reorganisation of local government. Until the 2010s, Natural England, which maintains the database of English SSSIs, kept the listing of counties as it was in 1974, but by 2015 they had updated their lists to reflect some later changes. However, even though Avon was abolished in 1996 it is still used as an area of search by Natural England, rather than being divided between the Gloucestershire and Somerset lists.[3]

The data in the table is taken from English Nature in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI.[4]

For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.

  1. ^ "Notification of SSSIs". English Nature. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2006.
  2. ^ "SSSIs in Avon". English Nature. Retrieved 1 August 2006.
  3. ^ "Site Search". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. ^ English Nature citation sheets for each SSSI (PDF files). Retrieved on 2006-08-05.