Gordano (or the Gordano Valley; ) is an area of North Somerset, 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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

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 ridges extending along the coastline between Clevedon and Portishead, and another ridge extending between Clevedon and Easton in Gordano. The area includes the villages of Clapton in Gordano, Weston in Gordano, Easton in Gordano,

Walton in Gordano Walton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England. It is situated in a small valley at the side of the south-western end of the Gordano Valley, about a mile from Clevedon. The parish has a population of 273. History Th ...

, Portbury and Sheepway. The M5 motorway 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 The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the Avonmouth ...

and the Avonmouth Bridge. 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 " rhynes"). The rhynes previously managed by the now amalgamated Gordano Valley Internal Drainage Board 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 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 o ...

, 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 as nature reserves. These include; Weston Big Wood,

Clapton Moor Clapton may refer to: People * Clapton (surname) * Eric Clapton (born 1945), English blues rock guitarist Places *Clapton, London, an area of East London, closely analogous to the E5 (Clapton) postcode district of the E postcode area divided into ...

, Weston Moor and Walton Common. 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 Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters ...

''(Molinia caerulea–Cirsium dissectum)'' and

Crested Dog’s-tail–Common Knapweed Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

'')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 Water parsnip is a common name given to a number of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, including those from the Berula and Sium genera. *Berula :*''Berula erecta'', cutleaf water parsnip or water parsnip *Sium :*''Sium latifolium'', greater w ...

''(Sium latafolium)'', Whorled Water Milfoil ''(Myriophyllum verticillatum)'' and

Fen Pondweed ''Potamogeton coloratus'', the fen pondweed, is an aquatic plant in the genus ''Potamogeton''. It is found in shallow peaty calcareous lakes, ponds and ditches, commonly associated with lowland fens. Description Fen pondweed grows from perennia ...

''(Potamogeton coloratus)''. The site is now connected to the Severn Estuary by the

Portbury Ashlands Portbury Ashlands which is now known as Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve is a nature reserve between Portishead, Somerset, Portishead and the Royal Portbury Dock in Somerset, England. It was formed from the redevelopment of the area of Portishead fo ...

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