__NOTOC__ This is a list of the

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 ...

(SSSIs) in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In England the body responsible for designating SSSIs is

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, ...

, which chooses a site because of its

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

or physiographical features. There are 127 sites designated in this Area of Search, of which 83 have been designated due to their biological interest, 35 due to their geological interest, and 9 for both. Natural England took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from

English Nature English Nature was the Executive agency, United Kingdom government agency that promoted the Conservation (ethic), conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body ...

in October 2006 when it was formed from the amalgamation of English Nature, parts of the

Countryside Agency The Countryside Agency was a statutory body set up in England in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The agency was dissolved in 2006 and its functions dispersed among other bo ...

and the

Rural Development Service The Rural Development Service (RDS) was formerly part of the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It ceased to exist on 1 October 2006 following the creation of Natural England. History The RDS was create ...

. Natural England, like its predecessor, uses the 1974–1996 county system, and as such the same approach is followed here, therefore some sites you may expect to find in this list could be in the Avon list. The data in the table is taken from English Nature in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI.''English Nature'' citation sheets for each SSSI (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

files). Retrieved on 2006-08-05. For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.

Sites

Notes

:Data rounded to one decimal place. :Grid reference is based on the

British national grid reference system The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system (OSGB), also known as British National Grid (BNG), is a system of geographic grid references, distinct from latitude and longitude, whereby any location in Great Britain can be described in ...

, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

. :Link to maps using the ''Nature on the Map'' service provided by ''English Nature''. :Size smaller than can be shown with one decimal place. Actual size: 0.08 ha. :The Severn Estuary SSSI overlaps with the following SSSIs: ::*Avon: Spring Cove Cliffs, Middle Hope, Portishead Pier to Black Nore and Aust Cliff. ::*Gloucestershire: Purton Passage ::*South Glamorgan: Penarth Coast :Incorporates two former SSSIs: Severn Estuary (notified 1976) and part of Brean Down and Uphill Cliff (notified 1952). It was unified as Severn Estuary in 1989. :Size smaller than can be shown with one decimal place. Actual size: 0.04 ha. (0.1 ac.). :The Long Dole Wood and Meadows site extends into

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in Somerset, South West England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. ...

and so can be found on the list of SSSIs in Avon.

References

{{SSSI AOS lists