Bracklesham Bay
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
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Location | West Sussex |
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Grid reference | SZ 814 954[1] |
Interest | Biological Geological |
Area | 200.6 hectares (496 acres)[1] |
Notification | 1986[1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Bracklesham Bay is a 200.6-hectare (496-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3][4]
It is a coastal bay on the west side of the Manhood Peninsula in West Sussex, England. The bay looks out onto the English Channel and the Isle of Wight is visible from the beach, as is the Nab Tower lighthouse and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. The villages of Bracklesham and East Wittering are situated in the centre of the bay and it is bordered by the town of Selsey on the southern/eastern tip, and the village of West Wittering on the west side.
Biology and geology
This stretch of foreshore has unimproved grazing pastures, shingle, salt marsh, reed beds and ditches. The pasture is subject to seasonal flooding and it is important for its breeding and overwintering birds. The site has highly fossiliferous Eocene (56 to 34 million years ago) beds with over 160 fish species. There are also much more recent Middle Pleistocene marine deposits dating to around 500,000 years ago which provide a record of changes in sea levels.[5]
Medmerry managed realignment scheme
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Medmerry_realignment_scheme_%28geograph_4791022%29.jpg/220px-Medmerry_realignment_scheme_%28geograph_4791022%29.jpg)
The earth embankment at Medmerry holding back the sea was originally built in the 1960s; however the coastline in the area was subject to frequent flooding events which were becoming unsustainable.[6] The scheme arose out of consultations from the 2008 Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy with the managed realignment scheme being adopted.[7] In 2013 the Environment Agency completed the new 7 km inland floodbank and breach in the shingle wall to providing flood relief and this enabled creation of the form the Medmerry RSPB nature reserve. The scheme cost £28 million. As of 2013[update] it is the largest open-coast scheme in Europe and is understood to be one of the most sustainable projects the Environment Agency has completed.[8] [9]
References
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- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Bracklesham Bay". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Map of Bracklesham Bay". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Bracklesham (Tertiary Palaeobotany)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Bracklesham Bay (Mesozoic - Tertiary Fish/Amphibia)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Bracklesham Bay citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Managed retreat - Medmerry, Sussex". BBC Bitesize. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ "Medmerry Managed Realignment Scheme". TEAM Van Oord. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ "About Medmerry". RSPB. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ "Managed realignment at Medmerry, Sussex". Institution of Civil Engineers. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
External links
- Government Policy Paper on Medmerry coastal flood defence scheme
- v
- t
- e
- Adur Estuary
- Amberley Mount to Sullington Hill
- Amberley Wild Brooks
- Ambersham Common
- Arun Banks
- Arundel Park
- Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill
- Bognor Reef
- Bracklesham Bay
- Buchan Hill Ponds
- Burton Park
- Chanctonbury Hill
- Chapel Common
- Chichester Harbour
- Chiddingfold Forest
- Cissbury Ring
- Clayton to Offham Escarpment
- Climping Beach
- Coates Castle
- Cow Wood and Harry's Wood
- Duncton to Bignor Escarpment
- East Dean Park Wood
- Ebernoe Common
- Fairmile Bottom
- Forest Mere
- Fyning Moor
- Halnaker Chalk Pit
- Harting Downs
- Heyshott Down
- House Copse
- Hurston Warren
- Iping Common
- Kingley Vale
- Lavington Common
- Levin Down
- The Mens
- Mills Rocks
- Northpark Copse to Snapelands Copse
- Pads Wood
- Pagham Harbour
- Parham Park
- Pulborough Brooks
- Rake Hanger
- Rook Clift
- Shillinglee Lake
- Singleton and Cocking Tunnels
- St Leonard's Forest
- St Leonard's Park Ponds
- Sullington Warren
- Treyford to Bepton Down
- Upper Arun
- Wakehurst and Chiddingly Woods
- Waltham Brooks
- West Dean Woods
- West Harting Down
- Wolstonbury Hill
- Woolbeding and Pound Commons
- Woolmer Forest
- Worth Forest
- Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill
- Bognor Common Quarry
- Bognor Reef
- Bracklesham Bay
- Chantry Mill
- Chichester Harbour
- Coneyhurst Cutting
- Coppedhall Hanger
- Eartham Pit, Boxgrove
- Felpham
- Freshfield Lane
- Horton Clay Pit
- Marehill Quarry
- Pagham Harbour
- Park Farm Cutting
- Perry Copse Outcrop
- Philpot's and Hook Quarries
- Selsey, East Beach
- Slinfold Stream and Quarry
- Stone Hill Rocks
- Turners Hill
- Wakehurst and Chiddingly Woods
- Warnham
- West Hoathly
50°45′11″N 0°50′49″W / 50.753°N 0.847°W / 50.753; -0.847