Gordano (or the Gordano Valley; ) is an area of

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, in England. It has been designated as a National Nature Reserve. The name Gordano comes from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and is descriptive of the triangular shape of the whole valley from Clevedon to Portishead, being the ablative singular of the Latinised form of ''Gorden'' meaning ''muddy valley''. The valley runs roughly north-east to south-west, between

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 ...

ridges extending along the coastline between

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

and Portishead, and another ridge extending between

and

Easton in Gordano Easton in Gordano () is a village in Somerset, England, about northwest of Bristol city centre. It is part of the civil parish of Pill and Easton-in-Gordano and within the unitary authority of North Somerset. In 2011 the population of the pari ...

. The area includes the villages of

Clapton in Gordano Clapton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset on the southern side of the Gordano Valley, immediately adjacent to the M5 motorway. The parish has a population ...

Weston in Gordano Weston in Gordano is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated in the middle of the Gordano valley on the north side, and in the Unitary Authority of North Somerset, on the road between Clevedon and Portishead. The parish ...

, Walton in Gordano,

Portbury Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Go ...

and

Sheepway Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Go ...

. The

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

runs along the south side of the valley, splitting briefly into two levels - the south-west-bound level running above the north-east-bound carriageway. The Gordano motorway service station is at the eastern end of the valley, near the Royal Portbury Dock and the

Avonmouth Bridge The Avonmouth Bridge is a road bridge that carries the M5 motorway over the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon into Somerset near Bristol, England. The main span is long, and the bridge is long, with an air draught above mean high water level o ...

. There is no river Gordano - much of the valley is reclaimed land barely above sea level, and it is drained by ditches (known in the area as "

rhyne A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen ( South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or can ...

s"). The rhynes previously managed by the now amalgamated Gordano Valley

Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management with ...

are now the responsibility of the North Somerset Internal Drainage Board. An area comprising a total of has been designated as a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, for ornithological, entomological and stratigraphic interest, notification originally having taken place in 1971. Several sites in the valley are managed by the

Avon Wildlife Trust The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon — now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England. It has its headquarters in Bristol and run ...

as nature reserves. These include;

Weston Big Wood Weston Big Wood () is a 37.48 hectare woodland west of the town of Portishead, North Somerset, England. It is a nature reserve and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified in 1971. The wood takes its name from the nearby vill ...

, Clapton Moor,

Weston Moor Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

and

Walton Common Walton Common () is a 25.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near the village of Walton in Gordano, North Somerset, notified in 1991. The common, which is both a Scheduled Ancient Monument and an SSSI, is covered by ...

. The unimproved wet-meadow communities largely consist of variants of the nationally rare Blunt-flowered Rush–Marsh Thistle ''( Juncus subnodulosus–Cirsium palustre)'', Soft/Sharp Flowered Rush–Marsh Bedstraw ''(Juncus effusus/acutiflorus–Galium palustre)'', Purple Moorgrass–Meadow Thistle ''(Molinia caerulea–Cirsium dissectum)'' and Crested Dog’s-tail–Common Knapweed '')Cynosurus cristatus–Centaurea nigra)'' community types In total over 130 species of flowering plant have been recorded including 3 species of orchids, 21 grasses and 14 sedges. The extensive system of rhynes and field ditches contains a rich flora which includes three nationally scarce species: Water Parsnip ''(Sium latafolium)'',

Whorled Water Milfoil ''Myriophyllum verticillatum'', the whorl-leaf watermilfoil or whorled water-milfoil, is a native to much of North America, North Africa, and Eurasia. It closely resembles another native milfoil, called northern water milfoil (''M. sibiricum'' ...

''(Myriophyllum verticillatum)'' and Fen Pondweed ''(Potamogeton coloratus)''. The site is now connected to the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

by the Portbury Ashlands nature reserve.

References

{{SSSIs Avon geological National nature reserves in Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Valleys of Somerset