Witton-le-Wear (SSSI) 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 ...

located in the valley of the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...

, immediately east of the village of

Witton-le-Wear Witton-le-Wear is a village in County Durham, North East England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear, to the north-west of Bishop Auckland. Geography and administration Witton-le-Wear is part of the North West Durham Parliament ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. It is important as the only extensive body of biologically-significant open water in West Durham.

SSSI status

Until 1964, the area now designated as an SSSI was used for sand and gravel extraction. When extraction ceased, the area was taken over by

Durham Wildlife Trust Durham Wildlife Trust, founded in 1971, is a registered charity which aims to protect wildlife and promote nature conservation in parts of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, England. It is one of 46 such organisations that together constitute The ...

, which developed the Low Barns Nature Reserve, on the site. * The site was designated as Witton-le-Wear SSSI in 1966. Minor revisions were made to the boundaries in 1987. The nature reserve encompasses a visitor centre and a disused sewage works, neither of which is included in the SSSI.

Geography, geology and ecology

The site occupies an area adjacent to the River Wear, being bounded on the south by the river and on the north by a former river channel which was abandoned when the Wear shifted its course during a flood in 1771. Being part of the river's

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

, the area is underlain by riverine sands and gravels, which were formerly extracted; the abandoned workings were subsequently inundated, creating three lakes which are an important feature of the SSSI. The total area of permanent standing water is 5.5 ha, though the area is subject to periodic flooding, when standing water can temporarily cover the entire site and fresh sediment is deposited. Part of Marston Lake, the largest of the three permanent lakes, is fringed with tall fen vegetation, characterised by Bulrush, ''

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' (broadleaf cattail, bulrush, common bulrush, common cattail, cat-o'-nine-tails, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus '' Typha''. It is found as a native plant species in North a ...

'', Meadowsweet, ''

Filipendula ulmaria ''Filipendula ulmaria'', commonly known as meadowsweet or mead wort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia (Near east and Middle east). It has ...

'', and Common Marsh-bedstraw, ''

Galium palustre ''Galium palustre'', the common marsh bedstraw or simply marsh-bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. This plant is widely distributed, native to virtually every country in Europe, plus Morocco, the Azores, Turkey, Turkm ...

''. On the northern edge of the SSSI, a belt of mature woodland was left when the river abandoned its former channel. The dominant tree species is Alder, ''

Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations whe ...

'', with a

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

dominated by weed species, principally Common Nettle, ''

Urtica dioica ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...

'', and Greater Chickweed, '' Stellaria neglecta''. In wetter areas, scrub woodland, consisting of a mix of Alder and Willows, '' Salix spp'', is developing. In total, woodland covers an area of 12.4 ha. Most of the site is covered by free-draining, sandy soils, on which neutral grassland has developed. The dominant grass species are False Oat-grass, ''

Arrhenatherum elatius ''Arrhenatherum elatius'', with the common names bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a species of perennial grass, native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. This bun ...

'', and Common Bent, ''

Agrostis capillaris ''Agrostis capillaris'', the common bent, colonial bent, or browntop, is a rhizomatous and stoloniferous perennial in the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Eurasia and has been widely introduced in many parts of the world. Colonial ben ...

'', but a variety of herbs are present, including extensive patches dominated by three orchids, Northern Marsh, ''

Dactylorhiza purpurella ''Dactylorhiza purpurella'', the northern marsh orchid, is an orchid native to Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland ...

'', Common Spotted, '' D. fuchsii'', and Early Purple, ''

Orchis mascula ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

''. The total area under grassland is 19.0 ha.

Fauna and flora

A significant number of water birds breed on the lakes within the SSSI, including

water rail The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the war ...

little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

and

great crested grebe The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display. Taxonomy The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in t ...

. The open water bodies also support large numbers of wintering wildfowl. Notable invertebrates include nine species of

Odonata Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous. The two comm ...

, including the Southern Hawker, ''

Aeshna cyanea The southern hawker or blue hawker (''Aeshna cyanea'') is a species of hawker dragonfly. Distribution The species is one of the most common and most widespread dragonflies in Europe. The total range is West Palearctic and covers a large part of ...

'', as well as a grass-mining fly, '' Opomyza punctella'', and a leaf beetle, '' Longitarsus reichei'', which are locally rare.

References

External links

Witton-le-Wear at Natural England
* {{SSSIs County Durham Nature reserves of the Durham Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham Witton-le-Wear