Delph Bridge Drain is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

north-west of

Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census. History Archaeology The region between Dev ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. This site has the only known British population of

fen ragwort ''Jacobaea paludosa'', syn. ''Senecio paludosus'', the fen ragwort, is a species of the genus ''Jacobaea'' and the family Asteraceae that can be found in Northern Italy, and everywhere in Europe (except for Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Port ...

, which was previously believed to have become extinct in the UK in 1857, due to

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It was re-discovered in 1971 when dormant seeds probably germinated following excavation of the drain. The site is a short stretch of ditch next to the

A142 road The A142 is a road that runs from Newmarket in Suffolk to Chatteris in Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north ...

between Soham and

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

References

{{SSSIs Cambridgeshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire