Turnford and Cheshunt Pits
Encyclopedia
The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
in the English
counties of Hertfordshire
and Essex
and covers a total of 428.17 acres (173.28 ha).
Most of the site is owned by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
and managed as the River Lee Country Park
. The site is bounded to the west by Cheshunt
and Turnford and Fishers Green
and Holyfield
to the east.
, a further waterbody, Hall Marsh Scrape, which was constructed specifically for use by waterfowl. Also included in the site are areas of marsh
, grassland
, ruderal herbs, scrubland and woodland
.
The pits which include North Metropolitan Pit known as Northmetpit was excavated in the 1940s to Hooks Marsh Lake which was dug in the 1970s and cover a span of over 40 years.
The site are of national importance for the wintering gadwall
and the wintering Northern shoveler
and of regional importance for wintering coot
and locally important for wintering snipe
and the bittern
. Breeding bird species of local importance include the great crested grebe
, tufted duck
, coot, little ringed plover
, sedge warbler
and the reed warbler
.
Many species of aquatic invertebrates have been recorded from the site especially damselflies and dragonflies including the scarce hairy dragonfly
which has bred on the site and the red eyed damselfly is found in abundance.
The various pits support varied aquatic and marinal flora
including the nationally scarce whorled water milfoil
. Other species include the fan- leaved water crowfoot
, flowering rush, lesser reedmace, frogbit
, blunt-leaved pondweed
, lesser pondweed
and the brown sedge
.
Many of the spits and islands have developed into areas of scrubland and woodland mostly of willow species and alder. To the west of the North Metropoitan pit is the Nightingale wood. This large block of woodland provides roosting and feeding sites for wintering and migratory passerine
birds. The nationally scarce musk beetle Aromia moschata is also present in these areas.
Several pits have developed marsh and rank grassland
, their principal value is for invertebrates, particularly an area close to Bowyer's Water where grasshoppers
and bush crickets are present. This orthopteran fauna is believed to be the richest in Hertfordshire and includes several species more associated with coastal sites, such as the lesser marsh grasshopper
and the nationally scarce roesel's bush-cricket
.
Several areas of former gravel pit have been infilled with power station
pulverised fuel ash, much of which was transported to the site by barge via the River Lee Navigation
. Much of the reclaimed land is poorly drained and exerts a strong calcareous
influence on the vegetation. The area supports some of the largest colonies of marsh orchid in Essex and Hertfordshire. Other orchids present in large numbers are the early marsh orchid
and southern marsh orchid, also present in smaller numbers are the common spotted orchid and various hybrids between these species.
To the north of the site at Turnford Pit North, are a number of small areas of grassland believed to represent relics of the habitat which preceded gravel extraction. These fragments of agriculturally unimproved grassland are of a dry, rather calcareous, type which is rarely found in a river valley. Plant species which are present here include the cowslip
, wild carrot and the common centaury
.
The site also supports a wide range of mammals, reptiles and amphibians: including otter, harvest mice and a large population of grass snake.
. Car parking is available adjacent to the site. Cycling and pedestrian access via the Lea Valley Walk
. Much of the site can be visited by the network of public footpaths and cycle tracks.
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 English
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...
counties of Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and covers a total of 428.17 acres (173.28 ha).
Location
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a statutory body that is responsible for managing and developing the long, Lee Valley Regional Park. The park was established by Parliament in 1967. The headquarters of the authority are based at Myddleton House, Bulls Cross in the London Borough of Enfield,...
and managed as the River Lee Country Park
River Lee Country Park
The River Lee Country Park is located in the Lee Valley Park and is managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. Covering acres on either side of the River Lee Navigation between Waltham Abbey and Broxbourne...
. The site is bounded to the west by Cheshunt
Cheshunt
Cheshunt is a town in Hertfordshire, England with a population of around 52,000 according to the United Kingdom's 2001 Census. It is a dormitory town and part of the Greater London Urban Area and London commuter belt served by Cheshunt railway station...
and Turnford and Fishers Green
Fishers Green
Fishers Green is a locality north of Waltham Abbey, Essex on the B194 road on the section known as the Crooked Mile.- River Lee Country Park :Fishers Green is in the River Lee Country Park...
and Holyfield
Holyfield
Holyfield is a hamlet in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is located at grid reference and is within the EN postcode area. For local government purposes the hamlet forms part of the Waltham Abbey parish....
to the east.
Description
The SSSI includes ten former gravel pits, part of the Small River LeaSmall River Lea
Small River Lea is a minor tributary of the River Lea, which flows through the Lee Valley Park between Cheshunt and Enfield Lock. It forms part of the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest as it flows through the River Lee Country Park.- Course :The river leaves the Old...
, a further waterbody, Hall Marsh Scrape, which was constructed specifically for use by waterfowl. Also included in the site are areas of marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, ruderal herbs, scrubland 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...
.
The pits which include North Metropolitan Pit known as Northmetpit was excavated in the 1940s to Hooks Marsh Lake which was dug in the 1970s and cover a span of over 40 years.
The site are of national importance for the wintering gadwall
Gadwall
The Gadwall is a common and widespread duck of the family Anatidae.- Description :The Gadwall is 46–56 cm long with a 78–90 cm wingspan. The male is slightly larger than the female, weighing on average 990 g against her 850 g...
and the wintering Northern shoveler
Northern Shoveler
The Northern Shoveler , Northern Shoveller in British English, sometimes known simply as the Shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America, and is a rare vagrant to Australia...
and of regional importance for wintering coot
Coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...
and locally important for wintering snipe
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
and the bittern
Great Bittern
The Eurasian Bittern or Great Bittern is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.-Etymology:...
. Breeding bird species of local importance include the great crested grebe
Great Crested Grebe
The Great Crested Grebe is a member of the grebe family of water birds.- Description :The Great Crested Grebe is long with a wingspan. It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. The adults are unmistakable in summer with head and neck decorations...
, tufted duck
Tufted Duck
The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, is a medium-sized diving duck with a population of close to one million birds.- Description :The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name.The adult female is brown with paler...
, coot, little ringed plover
Little Ringed Plover
The Little Ringed Plover is a small plover. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill...
, sedge warbler
Sedge Warbler
The Sedge Warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge Warblers are migratory, crossing the Sahara to get from their European and Asian breeding grounds to spend winter in Africa...
and the reed warbler
Reed Warbler
The Eurasian Reed Warbler, or just Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds across Europe into temperate western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa....
.
Many species of aquatic invertebrates have been recorded from the site especially damselflies and dragonflies including the scarce hairy dragonfly
Hairy Dragonfly
Brachytron is a monophyletic genus of European dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae containing the Hairy Dragonfly , also known as the Hairy Hawker.- Description :...
which has bred on the site and the red eyed damselfly is found in abundance.
The various pits support varied aquatic and marinal flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
including the nationally scarce whorled water milfoil
Myriophyllum
Myriophyllum is a genus of about 69 species of freshwater aquatic plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The center of diversity for Myriophyllum is Australia with 43 recognized species...
. Other species include the fan- leaved water crowfoot
Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....
, flowering rush, lesser reedmace, frogbit
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Frogbit, is a flowering plant belonging to the genus Hydrocharis in the family Hydrocharitaceae. In North America, it is referred to as Common Frogbit or European Frogbit to distinguish it from the related American Frogbit .It is a small floating plant resembling a small...
, blunt-leaved pondweed
Pondweed
Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae:*Potamogeton, a diverse and worldwide genus*Elodea, found in North America*Aponogeton, in Africa, Asia and Australasia*Groenlandia, a genus of aquatic plants...
, lesser pondweed
Pondweed
Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae:*Potamogeton, a diverse and worldwide genus*Elodea, found in North America*Aponogeton, in Africa, Asia and Australasia*Groenlandia, a genus of aquatic plants...
and the brown sedge
Carex
Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...
.
Many of the spits and islands have developed into areas of scrubland and woodland mostly of willow species and alder. To the west of the North Metropoitan pit is the Nightingale wood. This large block of woodland provides roosting and feeding sites for wintering and migratory passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
birds. The nationally scarce musk beetle Aromia moschata is also present in these areas.
Several pits have developed marsh and rank grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, their principal value is for invertebrates, particularly an area close to Bowyer's Water where grasshoppers
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are insects of the suborder Caelifera.Grasshoppers may also refer to:* Grasshopper , a Hong Kong-based musical group* Grasshopper Club Zürich, a Swiss football club...
and bush crickets are present. This orthopteran fauna is believed to be the richest in Hertfordshire and includes several species more associated with coastal sites, such as the lesser marsh grasshopper
Chorthippus
Chorthippus is a large genus of acridid grasshoppers with around 190 described species. Some of these are placed in Glyptobothrus by other authors.-Species:*Chorthippus abchasicus*Chorthippus acroleucus*Chorthippus aethalinus...
and the nationally scarce roesel's bush-cricket
Roesel's bush-cricket
Roesel's bush-cricket is a European bush-cricket, named after August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, a German entomologist.Its song is very similar to that of Savi's Warbler.-Morphology:-Adult insects:...
.
Several areas of former gravel pit have been infilled with power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
pulverised fuel ash, much of which was transported to the site by barge via the River Lee Navigation
River Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea . Its course runs from Hertford Castle Weir all the way to the River Thames at Bow Creek. The first lock of the navigation is Hertford Lock the last being Bow Locks....
. Much of the reclaimed land is poorly drained and exerts a strong calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
influence on the vegetation. The area supports some of the largest colonies of marsh orchid in Essex and Hertfordshire. Other orchids present in large numbers are the early marsh orchid
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...
and southern marsh orchid, also present in smaller numbers are the common spotted orchid and various hybrids between these species.
To the north of the site at Turnford Pit North, are a number of small areas of grassland believed to represent relics of the habitat which preceded gravel extraction. These fragments of agriculturally unimproved grassland are of a dry, rather calcareous, type which is rarely found in a river valley. Plant species which are present here include the cowslip
Primula veris
Primula veris is a flowering plant in the genus Primula. The species is found throughout most of temperate Europe and Asia, and although absent from more northerly areas including much of northwest Scotland, it reappears in northernmost Sutherland and Orkney.-Names:The common name cowslip derives...
, wild carrot and the common centaury
Centaurium erythraea
Centaurium erythraea is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common names common centaury and European centaury. This centaury is a widespread plant of Europe and parts of western Asia and northern Africa. It has also naturalised in parts of North America and throughout...
.
The site also supports a wide range of mammals, reptiles and amphibians: including otter, harvest mice and a large population of grass snake.
Public access
The nearest station Cheshunt railway stationCheshunt railway station
Cheshunt railway station serves the town of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, England. It is on the West Anglia Main Line and the Lea Valley Lines, and train services are provided by National Express East Anglia....
. Car parking is available adjacent to the site. Cycling and pedestrian access via the Lea Valley Walk
Lea Valley Walk
The Lea Valley Walk is a long-distance path located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton, and the Thames, at Limehouse Basin, Limehouse, east London. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford the path follows the towpath of the River Lee Navigation, and it becomes...
. Much of the site can be visited by the network of public footpaths and cycle tracks.