Arnside and Silverdale

Arnside and Silverdale
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The village of Arnside on the Kent estuary, with Arnside Knott behind
Country	England
County	Cumbria, Lancashire
Location	Northern England
Area	75 km² (29 sq mi)
Highest point	Warton Crag
- elevation	163 m (535 ft)
Plant	ash, hazel, oak
Animal	bittern
Founded	1972
Location of the Arnside and Silverdale AONB in the UK

Arnside and Silverdale is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, on the border between Lancashire and Cumbria, adjoining Morecambe Bay. One of the smallest AONBs, It covers 29 square miles (75 km²) between the Kent Estuary, the River Keer and the A6 road. It was designated in 1972.

The area is characterised by low hills of Carboniferous Limestone, including Arnside Knott (522 feet) and Warton Crag (535 feet), interspersed with grassland. Much of the area is covered by deciduous woodland, in which ash, oak and hazel predominate. The coastal areas contain large areas of salt marsh, although these are under threat from the shifting channel of the Kent Estuary.

The Leighton Moss nature reserve, owned by the RSPB, is the largest area of reedbeds in North West England, and is an Important Bird Area.^[1] The bittern, one of the resident species, has been adopted as the logo of the AONB. In addition there are 15 SSSIs in the area; one of these, Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, is home to some rare species of butterfly including the High Brown Fritillary.

Arnside and Silverdale are the main villages in the area. Other settlements include Warton, Yealand Redmayne, Beetham and Storth.

References

↑ BirdLife International (2015) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Leighton Moss. Downloaded from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2014-03-07. on 08/01/2015

Coordinates: 54°10′35″N 2°47′29″W / 54.17639°N 2.79139°W / 54.17639; -2.79139

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England

East of England	Dedham Vale Norfolk Coast Suffolk Coast and Heaths

East Midlands	Lincolnshire Wolds

North East	Northumberland Coast North Pennines

North West	Arnside and Silverdale Forest of Bowland Solway Coast

South East	Chichester Harbour Chilterns High Weald Isle of Wight Kent Downs South Hampshire Coast Surrey Hills Abolished: East Hampshire Sussex Downs

South West	Blackdown Hills Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Cornwall Cotswolds Dorset East Devon Isles of Scilly Mendip Hills North Devon Coast North Wessex Downs Quantock Hills South Devon Tamar Valley

West Midlands	Cannock Chase Malvern Hills Shropshire Hills Wye Valley

Yorkshire and Humber	Howardian Hills Nidderdale

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