The River Ter SSSI is a stretch of the

River Ter The River Ter is a river in Essex, England. The river rises in Stebbing Green and flowing via Terling it joins the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation at near Rushes Lock. A small part of it, the River Ter SSSI near Great Leighs, has been a geolog ...

and its banks south of

Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England, halfway between Chelmsford itself and Braintree. In 1931 the parish had a population of 728. Histor ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

which has been designated a 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 ...

. It is a

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

site. According to the

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

citation: :This reach of the River Ter is representative of a lowland stream with a distinctive floor regime. It is flashy, draining a low-lying catchment on glacial till, and has a very low base flow discharge but high flood peaks; daily, monthly and annual flow variability are also high. In addition the site demonstrates characteristic features of a lowland stream including pool-riffle sequences, bank erosion, bedload transport and dimensional adjustments to flooding frequency. Most of the river is inaccessible as it is surrounded by dense vegetation, but a footpath runs through an area of the north bank, east of the road called Cole Hill, which is within the SSSI.

References

{{SSSIs Essex Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Essex Geological Conservation Review sites