Arnside and Silverdale is an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

in England, on the border between

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, adjoining

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ...

. One of the smallest AONBs, it covers 29 square miles (75 km²) between the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Estuary, the

River Keer The River Keer is a river in England. It flows through the English counties of Lancashire and Cumbria. For parts of its course, the Keer marks the boundary between Lancashire and Cumbria, as well as the ancient counties of Lancashire and Westmo ...

and the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road connec ...

. It was designated in 1972.

Description

The area is characterised by low hills of

Carboniferous Limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...

, including

Arnside Knott Arnside Knott is a hill with a summit elevation of , near Arnside, Cumbria, England. Although it is in South Lakeland district it is not in the Lake District National Park, lying south of the River Kent which forms the south eastern boundary of ...

(522 feet) and Warton Crag (535 feet), interspersed with grassland. Much of the area is covered by

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

woodland, in which

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

, oak, and

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

predominate. The coastal area contains large extents of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, 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. It is domin ...

, although these are under threat from the shifting channel of the Kent Estuary

The RSPB Leighton Moss, Leighton Moss nature reserve, owned by the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment th ...

, is the largest area of

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. A ...

s in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

, and is an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

.BirdLife International (2015) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Leighton Moss. Downloaded from on 08/01/2015 The

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern ...

, one of the resident species, has been adopted as the logo of the AONB. In addition, there are fifteen SSSIs in the area; one of these, Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, is home to some rare species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...

including the high brown fritillary.

Arnside Arnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, historically part of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, England. The Lake District National Park is located a few miles North. Travelling by road, Arnside is to the south of Kendal, ...

and Silverdale are the main villages in the area. Other settlements include Warton, Yealand Redmayne,

Beetham Beetham is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, situated on the border with Lancashire, north of Carnforth. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the 2001 census the parish had a popula ...

and

Storth Storth is a village near Arnside in Cumbria, England, situated near the border with Lancashire. It is in the historic county of Westmorland. The village faces the estuary of the River Kent. Although the village is ancient the vast bulk of the ...

Landscape Trust

The AONB is supported by the Landscape Trust, a registered charity with over 1000 members. Its activities include ownership and management of several nature reserves and the production of a journal ''Keer to Kent''.

References

External links

* *
Walks around Arnside & Silverdale

{{Authority control Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England Protected areas established in 1972 Protected areas of Cumbria Protected areas of Lancashire Arnside