Redcar Field is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 in the Darlington

Darlington (borough)

Darlington is a local government district and borough in North East England. In 2008 it had a resident population of 100,500 It borders County Durham to the north and west, North Yorkshire to the south along the line of the River Tees, and Stockton-on-Tees to the east.-Council:Traditionally part of...

 district of County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated just north of Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, about 1 km south of the village of Coatham Mundeville

Coatham Mundeville

Coatham Mundeville is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county ofCounty Durham, England. It is situated a short distance from Brafferton, on the A167 between Newton Aycliffe and Darlington....

.

The site, which is one of the few spring-fed areas on the magnesian limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 of County Durham, has a variety of fen

Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...

 vegetation types such as are not found together elsewhere in the county, including the only example of fen meadow

Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...

 in the region.

The fen meadow, in which blunt-flowered rush, Juncus subnodulosus

Juncus subnodulosus

Juncus subnodulosus, the Blunt-flowered Rush, is a species of rush. It natively occurs from the Mediterranean region across temperate Europe, but it does not range far into Scandinavia...

, is dominant, grades into open flushes. These are carpeted with fern-leaved hook-moss, Cratoneuron filicinum, curled hook-moss, Palustriella commutata, and pointed spear-moss, Calliergon cuspidatum, and support typical fen herbs such as marsh valerian, Valeriana dioica, and early marsh orchid, Dactylorhiza incarnata

Dactylorhiza incarnata

The Early Marsh Orchid, is a perennial, temperate-climate species of orchid generally found growing in wet meadows, and generally on base-rich soils, up to about 2100m asl...

.

Another, and more extensive, fen type is tall fen, dominated by common reed, Phragmites australis, and great willow herb, Epilobium hirsutum

Epilobium hirsutum

Epilobium hirsutum is a flowering plant belonging to the willowherb genus Epilobium in the family Onagraceae. It is commonly known as the great willowherb, great hairy willowherb or hairy willowherb. Local names include codlins-and-cream, apple-pie and cherry-pie.It is a tall, perennial plant,...

. On the edge of the tall fen, the locally scarce meadow rue, Thalictrum flavum

Thalictrum flavum

Thalictrum flavum is a plant species in the genus Thalictrum. It is often called common meadow-rue or yellow meadow-rue...

, is plentiful.

About one-quarter of the site is occuped by willow carr

Carr (topography)

A carr is a type of waterlogged, wooded terrain that, typically, represents a succession stage between the original reedy swamp and the eventual formation of forest in a sub-maritime climate....

, dominated by crack willow, Salix fragilis, beneath which the field layer contains a mix of tall fen and woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 plants, the latter including wood avens, Geum rivale, male fern, Dryopteris filix-mas

Dryopteris filix-mas

Dryopteris filix-mas is one of the most common ferns of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, occurring throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas and is common in the understory of woodlands, but is also found in shady places on hedge-banks, rocks, and screes...

, and, at the edge of the carr, globe flower, Trollius europaeus.