Risley Moss is an area of peat bog situated near

Birchwood Birchwood is a town in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England with a population of 11,395 (as at the 2001 census). Although physically and administratively part of Warrington, the civil parish council has named itself a town council. His ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The populati ...

, England. It is a country park, Site of Special Scientific Interest 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 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 gre ...

, 10,000–15,000 years ago, filled with water, forming the meres and mosses characteristic of the area today. In some cases, like Risley Moss,

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

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 and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

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 and

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

to re-colonise the bogs. Risley Moss was first mentioned in the

Doomsday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

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 was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

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 Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986. Risley Moss, together with Astley and Bedford Mosses and Holcroft Moss, is also a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

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 a ...

, known as Manchester Mosses.

Features

The main feature of Risley Moss is the large peat bog flats, overlooked by two observation points: a large watchtower, ideal for bird watching, and a smaller lookout. 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 flats 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