List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Essex

This article is about SSSIs in Essex. For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.

Tidal mud flats, East Mersea
Tidal mud flats, East Mersea, in the Colne Estuary

Essex is a county in the east of England.[1] In the early Anglo-Saxon period it was the Kingdom of the East Saxons, but it gradually came under the control of more powerful kingdoms, and in the ninth century it became part of Wessex.[2] The modern county is bounded by Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Greater London to the south-west, Kent across the River Thames to the south, and the North Sea to the east.[3] It has an area of 1,420 square miles (3,700 km2), with a coastline of 400 miles (640 km),[4] and a population according to the 2011 census of 1,393,600.[5] At the top level of local government are Essex County Council and two unitary authorities, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock. Under the county council, there are twelve district and borough councils.[6]

In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England, which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geological sites.[7] As of August 2016, there are 86 sites designated in Essex.[8] There are 19 sites with a purely geological interest, and 64 listed for biological interest. A further three sites are designated for both reasons.

The largest is Foulness, which is internationally important for wildfowl and waders, and has 71 nationally rare invertebrate species.[9] The smallest is Holland-on-Sea Cliff, a geological site which throws light on the course of the River Thames before it was diverted south by the Anglian glaciation around 450,000 years ago.[10] Hangman's Wood and Deneholes has deneholes, shafts created by medieval chalk mining which are now used by hibernating bats.[11] Lion Pit is the site of flint-knapping by Neanderthals around 200,000 years ago, and it has been possible to fit back together some of the flint flakes.[12]

  1. ^ "East of England". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ^ Yorke, B. A. E. (2014). "Essex". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 174–75. ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1.
  3. ^ "Essex". British Services. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Essex PEEL 2015: More about this area". Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. ^ "2011 Census (first release) Summary - Essex, districts & unitary areas". Essex Insight. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Local government structure". Essex County Council. Archived from the original on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Designation". Natural England. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Designated Sites View: Essex". Natural England. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference foulnesssssi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference hollandsssi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference hangman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference lion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).