Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton () is an 11

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

(4.45

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

)

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 ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, on the north bank of a lower, tidal stretch of the River Avon, downstream from the

Avon Gorge The Avon Gorge () is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long Canyon, gorge on the River Avon (Bristol), River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5&nbs ...

, and just east of

Shirehampton Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of ...

. It was notified as an SSSI in 1999.

Description

The site consists of a wooded cliff and a narrow

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

. The underlying rocks are Devonian sandstone and Carboniferous limestone, overlaid with

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

dolomitic conglomerate.

Biological interest

Wooded cliff

The site's principal interest and the reason for its designation as an SSSI is the presence of a population of the True Service-tree (''Sorbus domestica'') growing on the cliffs. This tree is nationally rare in Britain, and this site hosts the largest known population in England. Other notable species of ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' ('' s.str.'') are commonly known as rowan or mountain-ash. The genus used to include species commonly known as whitebeam, cheque ...

'' here are the whitebeams '' Sorbus eminens'' and '' Sorbus anglica'', both of which are also nationally rare in Britain. The nationally scarce

Large-leaved Lime ''Tilia platyphyllos'', the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native to much of continental Europe as well as southwestern Great Britain, growing ...

(''Tilia platyphyllos'') also occurs, and herbs include Field Garlic (''Allium oleraceum'') and Pale St. John's-wort (''Hypericum montanum'').

Saltmarsh plants

The saltmarsh vegetation, which lies at the base of the cliff, is predominantly made up of Sea Aster (''Aster tripolium'') and English Scurvygrass (''Cochlearia anglica''). There are however two nationally scarce vascular plant species here as well – Slender Hare's-ear (''Bupleurum tenuissimum'') and Long-stalked Orache (''Atriplex longipes'').

Wreck of the ''Kron Prinz''

On 1 April 1874, the German grain ship was under tow up the Avon, laden with 7,000 quarters (28,000 imperial bushels, 1,000 m³) of grain. There was an adequate depth of water, as it was approaching high tide, but on the narrow channel through Horseshoe Bend she grounded on the outer bank. As the tide soon began to ebb, the ship settled onto the steep mud bank and then fell over. The cargo was lost and to avoid blocking the navigation channel, the ship was demasted. Nearly three weeks later, on 20 April, she was refloated and taken to Bristol for repairs, at a cost of £34,000. The grounded ship was photographed and there is a well-known photograph of her on her side, taken from across the Avon. This was later published as a postcard by local photographer

Fred Little Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

, although it was not (as sometimes claimed) his photograph, as he had been born in the same year. The ship was later renamed the and was lost in the North Sea in 1899.

References

English Nature citation sheet for the site
(accessed 13 July 2006)

External links

English Nature
(SSSI information)
''English Nature''
{{authority control Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1999 Woodland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Protected areas of Bristol River Avon, Bristol