Marsland Valley is a nature reserve situated in two large valleys which straddle the northern end of the

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

border. It is a designated nature reserve jointly managed by the Devon Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. The reserve is a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, and it forms part of two

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 ...

: Steeple Point to Marsland Mouth on the Cornish side and Marsland to Clovelly Coast in Devon. The valley is situated near the villages of Gooseham and Morwenstow, approximately ten miles north of the Cornish

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Coast resort of

Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

. The watercourse along the valley, which discharges directly into the sea, at Marsland Mouth, is called Marsland Water. The land was donated by the late Christopher Cadbury (former President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation 1962-1986) to the county Trusts. Roe deer and purple hairstreak butterflies can both be seen here, as well as the extremely rare pearl-bordered fritillary and the small pearl-bordered fritillary.Moths seen at Marsland
On the south-facing wooded slope towards Gooseham Mill the trees are coppiced to create clearings, and vegetation is thinned to keep it low so that flowers and insects can flourish. Westward on the coast, Marsland Mouth denotes the western end of the North Devon Coast AONB. It also includes part of the Hartland section of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

References

{{Authority control Nature reserves of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Valleys of Cornwall Nature reserves in Devon