Risley Moss is an area of peat bog situated near Birchwood in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, England. It is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated c ...

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 ...

and a Local Nature Reserve. It covers an area of and is one of the last remaining fragments of the raised bogs that once covered large areas of South Lancashire and North Cheshire.

History

Natural depressions in the

glacial drift In geology, drift is a name for all sediment (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into unstratified (unsorted) drift ( glac ...

left by the ice sheets which covered the Cheshire–Shropshire plain during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, 10,000–15,000 years ago, filled with water, forming the

mere Mere may refer to: Places * Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders * Mere, Cheshire, England * Mere, Wiltshire, England People * Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist * Mere Smith, American television ...

s and mosses characteristic of the area today. In some cases, like Risley Moss,

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

accumulation filled the depression, allowing colonisation by bog mosses such as the ''Sphagnum'' varieties, thus giving rise to the name "moss". Risley Moss is one of only two mosses in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

where the water level has been deliberately raised in an attempt to encourage the regeneration of an active bog surface. The long-term restoration project to re-wet the moss began in 1978 and was completed in 2002. This scheme was undertaken to create a series of scrapes and bunds to retain water and recreate the perfect conditions for bog flora such as

cotton grass ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the mi ...

and

sphagnum mosses ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

to re-colonise the bogs. Risley Moss was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book when it was part of the Culcheth Estate. The Moss passed to his daughter Ellen de Risley and remained in her family until 1736 when it was bought by a local landowner. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

many of the peat bogs near Manchester were drained however Risley was too wet and remained under water. It was the former site of a large Royal Ordnance Factory. Today, it is managed by Cheshire County Council as a country park and an educational nature reserve. It was designated a

in 1986. Risley Moss, together with

Astley and Bedford Mosses Astley and Bedford Mosses are areas of peat bog south of the Bridgewater Canal and north of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. They are situated about south-east of Leigh, in Astley and Bedford, Greater Manchester, England. They are among t ...

and Holcroft Moss, is also a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

designated

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 ...

, known as Manchester Mosses.

Features

The main feature of Risley Moss is the large peat bog, overlooked by two observation points: a raised platform (previously having a large watchtower) ideal for bird watching, and a smaller lookout (currently obstructed by plant growth). These points have additional information inside relating to bird species and landscape layouts. The Moss also has several smaller huts located inside the forested area for bird watching and nature enthusiasts. Tours across the bog and nature reserve are available from the main information centre and are undertaken by local rangers. In addition to the natural features and landscape, there are several sculptures around the site, usually with a natural theme.

Facilities

There is a visitor centre, countryside walks, bird hides and picnic benches.

References

{{coord, 53, 25, 20, N, 2, 30, 12, W, type:city, display=inline,title Parks and commons in Warrington Tourist attractions in Warrington Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cheshire Local Nature Reserves in Cheshire Lakes and reservoirs of Cheshire Bogs of England Landforms of Cheshire