Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury

Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Sea arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima)
Location within Gloucestershire
Area of Search	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	ST542929
Coordinates	51°38′01″N 2°39′45″W / 51.633488°N 2.662415°W / 51.633488; -2.662415Coordinates: 51°38′01″N 2°39′45″W / 51.633488°N 2.662415°W / 51.633488; -2.662415
Interest	Biological
Area	27.03 hectare
Notification	1985
Natural England website

Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury (grid reference ST542929) is a 27.03-hectare (66.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985.^[1]^[2]

The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).^[3]

Location and use

The fields are in the Forest of Dean, near Sedbury, and are brackish pasture which overlies alluvia soil. They lie adjacent to the lower, tidal part of the River Wye, and are unique in Gloucestershire. The area is made up of a collection of fields which are crossed by rhines and water-filled ditches. This pastureland, which is flooded by spring tides (the Wye being a tidal river), is traditionally grazed in the summer months.^[1]

Flora

Mud rush, meadow barley, red fescue, marsh foxtail and the nationally rare bulbous foxtail flourish in the pasture. There is a variety of saltmarsh plants such as sea arrowgrass, sea milkwort, sea aster, greater sea-spurrey, and lesser sea-spurrey. The rare narrow-leaved marsh dandelions (Taraxacum palustre and T. anglicum) are also recorded. Where areas become marshy grassland other species are found. The drainage ditches support a separate range of plants. The brackish water-crowfoot (Ranunculus baudotii) may be found at the boundaries of some of the fields.^[1]

Fauna

Redshank and lapwing breed on the site. Several species of damselfly flourish along the draining ditches include the azure damselfly.^[1]

References

External links

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows
Neighbouring areas Avon Hereford and Worcester Oxfordshire Wiltshire

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