__NOTOC__ Bamburgh Coast and Hills is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the coast of north

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England. The site is one of the longest-standing SSSIs in England, having been listed since 1954, and displays the interaction of a fluid magma rock, now known as the

Whin Sill The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Nort ...

, interacting with older sedimentary rock.

Coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...

at the site enables sections of the geological strata to be seen. In turn, the soil associated with the Whin Sill gives rise to a distinct pattern of vegetation which on its own merits is at this site found notable.

Location and natural features

The Bamburgh Coast and Hills SSSI is situated on the east coast of the far

north-east of England In modern contexts Northumbria usually refers to the region of England between the Tees and Tweed, including the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham, but may also be taken to be synonymous with North East England. The area correspo ...

, in the county of

, about north-east of the town of

Bamburgh Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census. The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...

. The site is 'T'shaped, the bar of the T running for approximately along the north-west - south-east orientated beachfront north of Bamburgh, and the descender running inland for some following a south-east facing

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

as high ground at circa above sea level falls to a new level at circa . Both the coast and the escarpment expose sections of strata of Whin Sill and underlying rock, making the site advantageous for studies of local geology. The strata at Bamburgh is complex, and appears to show areas of faults pre-existing the intrusion of the sill, where

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

rafts have dipped from the horizontal; intrusions by the whin sill; and faults occurring after the intrusion, delineated by carbonite-filled

fractures Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displa ...

, and the occurrence of barytes.

Vegetation

The Whin Sill is an

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

rock,

Dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

, which gives rise to a

soil chemistry Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. In the early 1850s a consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society in England ...

particular to the location, and thus to a distinct habitat for vegetation. Soil on the Whin Sill is thin and prone to drought in summer months. Plant species found at the site include the

Perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

wild onion (''

Allium vineale ''Allium vineale'' (wild garlic, onion grass, crow garlic or stag's garlic) is a perennial, bulb-forming species of wild onion, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and the Middle East. The species was introduced in Australia and North America ...

''), maiden pink ('' Dianthus deltoides''), common rockrose (''

Helianthemum nummularium ''Helianthemum nummularium'' (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical si ...

''), meadow oat-grass (''

Avenula pratensis ''Helictotrichon pratense'', known as meadow oat-grass, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, found in temperate parts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geo ...

'') and crested hair-grass (''

Koeleria macrantha ''Koeleria macrantha'' is a species of grass known by the common name prairie Junegrass in North America and crested hair-grass in the UK. It is widespread across much of Eurasia and North America. It occurs in many habitat types, especially prai ...

''). Annual plants including knotted clover (''

Trifolium striatum ''Trifolium striatum'', the knotted clover, soft trefoil, is a flowering plant species in the pea and bean family '' Fabaceae''. References Flora of the United Kingdom striatum Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus ...

''), forget-me-nots ('' Myosotis spp''), dove's-foot cranesbill ('' Geranium molle''), parsley-piert (''

Aphanes arvensis ''Alchemilla arvensis'' (syn. ''Aphanes arvensis''), known as parsley-piert, is a sprawling, downy plant common all over the British Isles where It grows on arable fields and bare wastelands, particularly in dry sites. The short-stalked leaves h ...

''), heath groundsel (''

Senecio sylvaticus ''Senecio sylvaticus'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is variously known as the woodland ragwort, heath groundsel, or mountain common groundsel. It is native to Eurasia, and it can be found in other places, including wes ...

'') and squirreltail fescue ('' Vulpia bromoides''). More

acidic In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

areas provide habitat for sheep's fescue (''

Festuca ovina ''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla''). General description It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...

'') and bell heather (''

Erica cinerea ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produc ...

''). A number of plants characteristic of the coastal location are found, including thrift (''

Armeria maritima ''Armeria maritima'', the thrift, sea thrift or sea pink, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a compact evergreen perennial which grows in low clumps and sends up long stems that support globes of bright pink flow ...

''), buck's-horn plantain (''

Plantago coronopus ''Plantago coronopus'', the buck's-horn plantain, is a herbaceous annual to perennial flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. Other common names in the US and Italy include minutina and erba stella. Description ''Plantago coronopus'' pro ...

''), common stork's-bill (''

Erodium cicutarium ''Erodium cicutarium'', also known as common stork's-bill, redstem filaree, redstem stork's bill or pinweed, is a herbaceous annual plant, annual – or in warm climates, biennial plant, biennial – member of the family Geraniaceae of flowering ...

'') and sea plantain (''

Plantago maritima ''Plantago maritima'', the sea plantain, seaside plantain or goose tongue, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, ...

''). Heath areas exhibit heather ('' Calluna vulgaris'') and bell heather with meadow oat-grass, bitter vetch (''

Lathyrus montanus ''Lathyrus linifolius'' is a species of pea, commonly called bitter vetch or heath pea. The name bitter vetch is also sometimes used for ''Vicia ervilia'' and also for '' Vicia orobus''. The tubers of ''Lathyrus linifolius'' were formerly used as ...

''), devil's-bit scabious ('' Succisa pratensis''), hawkweeds ('' Hieracium spp''), wood anemone ('' Anemone nemorosa'') and the uncommon mountain everlasting (''

Antennaria dioica ''Antennaria dioica'' (mountain everlasting, stoloniferous pussytoes, catsfoot or cudweed) is a Eurasian and North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a perennial herb found in cool northern and mountainous region ...

''). Areas fed by freshwater springs support common butterwort (''

Pinguicula vulgaris ''Pinguicula vulgaris'', the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family, Lentibulariaceae. Description It grows to a height of 3–16 cm, and is topped with a purple, and occasionally white, flower that i ...

''), grass-of-Parnassus (''

Parnassia palustris ''Parnassia palustris'', the marsh grass of Parnassus, northern grass-of-Parnassus, or just grass-of-Parnassus, and bog star, is a flowering plant in the staff-vine family Celastraceae. It is the county flower of Cumberland in England, and appe ...

''), marsh lousewort ('' Pedicularis palustris''), marsh pennywort (''

Hydrocotyle vulgaris ''Hydrocotyle vulgaris'', the marsh pennywort, common pennywort, water naval, money plant, lucky plant or copper coin, is a small creeping aquatic perennial plant native to North Africa, Europe, the Caucasus and parts of the Levant. Description ...

''), marsh arrowgrass (''

Triglochin palustris ''Triglochin palustris'' or marsh arrowgrass is a species of flowering plant in the arrowgrass family Juncaginaceae. It is found in damp grassland usually on calcareous soils, fens and meadows. The species epithet ''palustris'' is Latin for "of ...

''), sea arrowgrass (''

Triglochin maritima ''Triglochin maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the arrowgrass family Juncaginaceae. It is found in brackish marshes, freshwater marshes, wet sandy beaches, fens, damp grassland and bogs. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring ...

'') and the rare seaside centaury ('' Centaurium littorale''). The condition of the geological units of Bamburgh Coast and Hills was judged to be favourable in 2009 & 2014, however the two vegetative units were judged to be unfavourable-declining and unfavourable-no change, condition reports citing encroaching gorse ('' Ulex spp'') and competitive grasses, and a complete lack of planned management.

References

External links

Natural England
SSSI record for Bamburgh Coast and Hills
Bambrugh Rock Walk
- PDF walking guide to geological features on the Bamburgh coast {{Authority control Northumberland coast Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Northumberland Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1954 Bamburgh

Location and natural features

Vegetation

See also

References

External links