Pitsea Marsh 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 ...
in
Pitsea in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. The southern half is the
Wat Tyler Country Park
Wat Tyler Country Park is a country park located to the south of Pitsea, Essex within the area of Pitsea Marsh. The area was inhabited from the Bronze Age onwards and at one time was the location of the Pitsea Explosives Factory.
The park is ...
, and the northern half is private land.
The site has a variety of habitats, such as grassland, scrub, reedbed, fen, ponds and saltmarsh. It was reclaimed in the seventeenth century, when Pitseahall Fleet was excavated to construct sea walls. The Fleet has a large and varied bird population. Dykes and ponds support the scarce
emerald damselfly
''Lestes sponsa'', is a damselfly, with a wide Palaearctic distribution. It is known commonly as the emerald damselfly or common spreadwing. Both males and females have a metallic green colour and when resting its wings are usually half opened.
...
, and other rare invertebrates include
Roesel's bush-cricket
Roesel's bush-cricket, ''Roeseliana roeselii'' (synonym ''Metrioptera roeselii'') is a European bush-cricket, named after August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, a German entomologist.
Morphology
Adult insects
Adult Roesel's bush-crickets are medium ...
, a
harvestman Leiobunum rotundum, a
hoverfly
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...
, and a ground beetle
dyschirius impunctipennis.
[
There is access to the country park from Pitsea Hall Lane.
]
References
{{coord, 51.554, 0.51, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Essex