Pilling Sands is a

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean.

in the

Borough of Wyre Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along w ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. Named after the village of

Pilling Pilling is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Wyre, Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is north-northeast of Poulton-le-Fylde, south-southwest of Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster and northwest of Preston, Lancashire, P ...

, located on the Fylde coast immediately to the south, it forms part of the southern edge of

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west 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 ga ...

Cockerham Cockerham is a small village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is south of Lancaster and north-northwest of Preston. Lying on the River Cocker, at the estuary of the River Lune, the parish h ...

Sands adjoins it to the east. The -long Lancashire Coastal Way runs beside the sands. This section is closed from 26 December to

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

to protect lambs and birdlife. Rare birds for Lancashire that have been spotted near the sands include

lesser yellowlegs The lesser yellowlegs (''Tringa flavipes'') is a medium-sized shorebird. It breeds in the boreal forest region of North America. Taxonomy The lesser yellowlegs was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in ...

and

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...

. In 2022, the North West Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority found that the Pilling Sands cockle fishery was, in a Habitats Regulations Assessment, in non-compliance of the North West Sea Fisheries Commission byelaw 13A, and was subsequently closed temporarily. Closure notices are active until two consecutive samples return normal levels of bacteriological quality for the production area. Horse racing regularly took place on the sands in the 19th century.

References

{{Borough of Wyre Pilling Wetlands of England Morecambe Bay