Ford Moss is a

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 ...

(SSSI), containing a Scheduled Ancient Monument, located south-west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England. The site is managed by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and gained its SSSI status in 1968, and in 2005 it was designated a Special Area of Conservation.

Location and natural features

Ford Moss is bound to the south by the high Goatscrag Hill and the west by the Blackchester Hill, both of which are sandstone formations. It is one of two SSSIs located on the Ford & Etal estate which were originally two separate estates combined in 1908 when

James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey JP DL (4 April 1846 – 21 November 1936) was an English industrialist, politician, and aristocrat known primarily for being a coal mining magnate from Durham and a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP). Li ...

purchased them both. Access can be gained by heading south off the B6353 (vehicles must be left at the gate of the site) and although there are a some good footpaths for the general public, permits are required to enter certain parts. The site, situated around above sea level, is made up partly (46 hectares) of a raised bog of peat, which is up to deep in places and underlain by carboniferous limestone some 363 to 325 million years ago. The bog, or mire, was a rainfed lake at some point in its history of which the build up of vegetation outstripped that of decomposition, giving it its 'raised' aspect. A report to the

Government Office A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

of the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

(GONE) stated that "''although partly drained, the re-wetted surface contains many waterlogged areas,''" that "''the water table should normally be within 25 cm of the surface''" and that the water quality was "''good.''" Flora include heather,

cotton grass ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bog h ...

, hares tail and

cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe ...

and fauna to be found are red squirrels, roe deer, curlew,

red grouse The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes consider ...

and adders amongst others. The first Northumberian sightings of the

solitary bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...

"''Colletes succinctus''" were made around the bog in 2007. To the south of the bog is found ancient woodland containing Scots Pine, birch and willow trees.

Man-made features

There is some evidence that a

deserted village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...

from the medieval age existed on the site although information is difficult to find about it. On the western edge of the site are located the remains of a colliery which was in use from at least the late 17th century to the outbreak of World War I. The colliery supplied local businesses, such as a brick and tileworks at Flodden and Ford Forge. A small collection of houses surrounded the colliery and there was even a railway proposed in 1852 which was however never built. Despite not falling out of use until reasonably recently there is very little evidence of it to be found except for engine house walls, the bases of some of the miners' cottages, and an engine house chimney, Grade II listed in 1988 and described as "''Mid C19. Snecked stone and brick in English Garden Wall Bond. Tall square stone base with a round brick arch on 2 sides. Tall round brick chimney with roll-moulded ashlar base and ashlar cornice.''"

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Northumberland Grade II listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Ruins in Northumberland Underground mines in England Bogs of England Special Areas of Conservation in England