Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit 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 ...

in Wraysbury in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. It is part of South West London Waterbodies

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Special Protection Area. The lake has an area of . The pit was excavated in the 1920s and 1930s with gravel being removed from the site. Over the years plants and wildlife have colonised the area and it is now mature.

History

This gravel-pit is one of a number of pits in this area formed when deposits of sand and gravel from the floodplain of the nearby Thames were excavated in open cast mining activities. Following removal of the minerals, any disused pits were allowed to flood with water, and gradually returned to nature. The present lake had reached 50 acres by the 1930s. At some stage the lake must have been stocked with

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

and other coarse fish, and now provides good angling.

SSSI

The site consists of a steep-sided lake and adjoining strips of scrubland and patches of trees. The SSSI is of major national importance for the

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...

, which visit it in winter, and is also made use of by other waterfowl such as the northern shoveler, the

Smew The smew (''Mergellus albellus'') is a species of duck, and is the only living member of the genus ''Mergellus''. ''Mergellus'' is a diminutive of '' Mergus'' and ''albellus'' is from Latin ''albus'' "white". This genus is closely related to ' ...

, the tufted duck, the common pochard and the common goldeneye. It is also visited in winter by the great crested grebe, the great cormorant and the Eurasian coot. The terrestrial habitat supports many birds including the Eurasian treecreeper, the garden warbler, the

great spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...

and the Eurasian hobby. There are a few areas of rough grassland supporting such species as lesser knapweed, wild carrot,

meadow vetchling ''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over man ...

and common bird's-foot trefoil.

References

{{SSSIs Berks Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire Ramsar sites in England Special Protection Areas in England