Vallis Vale
Encyclopedia
Vallis Vale is a 23.9 hectare
biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Great Elm
in Somerset
, notified in 1952.
Vallis Vale is an ancient woodland
site and supports an Ash-Wych Elm
stand type with a restricted distribution in Britain.
Vallis Vale exposes some of Britain’s most classic rock outcrops, exhibiting several of the most easily demonstrated examples of angular unconformity available. A nationally important research and educational locality, of great renown for the part it has played in the historical development of geological science.
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Great Elm
Great Elm
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.-History:...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, notified in 1952.
Vallis Vale is an ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
site and supports an Ash-Wych Elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
stand type with a restricted distribution in Britain.
Vallis Vale exposes some of Britain’s most classic rock outcrops, exhibiting several of the most easily demonstrated examples of angular unconformity available. A nationally important research and educational locality, of great renown for the part it has played in the historical development of geological science.
Source
- English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 10 August 2006)
External links
- English Nature website (SSSI information)