Rutland is a landlocked ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. In 1974 it was merged to be part of the administrative county of Leicestershire, but in 1997 it was separated to become a unitary local authority, which is responsible for all local services apart from the police and fire service. It is mainly rural, but has two market towns,

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

, the county town, and

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ...

. The county has an area of , and the 2011 census showed a population of 37,400. In England,

Sites 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 ...

(SSSIs) are designated by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geological sites. As of November 2017, there are 19 SSSIs in the county. Sixteen are designated for their biological importance, one for its geological importance and two under both criteria. The largest site is

Rutland Water Rutland Water is a reservoir in Rutland, England, east of Rutland's county town, Oakham. It is filled by pumping from the River Nene and River Welland, and provides water to the East Midlands. By surface area it is the largest reservoir in En ...

at , a

Ramsar Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...

internationally important wetland site and a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

under the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The smallest is Tolethorpe Road Verges at , which has several regionally uncommon plants on

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

limestone.

Key

Interest

*B = a site of biological interest *G = a site of geological interest

Public access

*NO = no public access to site *PP = public access to part of site *YES = public access to the whole or most of the site

Other classifications

*GCR =

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

*LRWT =

Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust The Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the United Kingdom. It manages nature reserves in Leicestershire and Rutland, and was founded in 1956 as the Leicestershire and Rutland Trust for Nature Con ...

*NCR =

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...

*Ramsar = Ramsar site, an internationally important wetland site *SPA =

under the

Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds

Sites

Notes

References

{{featured list Rutland Sites of Special Geology of East Midlands