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Skiddaw Group SSSI
Skiddaw Group SSSI is a site of special scientific interest in the Lake District High Fells, England. Its shape is approximately an irregular circle centred near Great Calva, with an area of 10,256.3 hectares (39.600 sq mi). The high ground creates a watershed between the Caldew Operational Catchment with water flowing north towards Carlisle, and the Ellen and West Coast and Derwent Operational Catchments flowing towards the west coast at Workington and Maryport. The area includes the Skiddaw Forest nature reserve.
The SSSI is designated for its flora and fauna, and for its geology. The geology includes the Skiddaw Group of sedimentary rock formations, and the Caldbeck Fells former mining area. Fells above 2,000 feet (610 m) include High Pike, Carrock Fell, Knott, Great Calva, and Bowscale Fell. The highest peaks are in the Skiddaw area, including Skiddaw itself, Long Side, Carl Side, Little Man, Lonscale Fell and, further east, Blencathra.
The SSSI is divided into a patchwork of "units" which are used as the level of geographic detail for reporting overall features and conditions. Each unit is identified by the Ordnance Survey grid reference at the centre of the unit, its area in hectares, the date it was last surveyed, and the drainage catchment it is located in. For example Bassenthwaite Common, which is unit 27, is nearly 700 ha (2.7 sq mi) centred at NY252299 in the Dash beck catchment. The habitat is there is dwarf shrub heath which, when surveyed in November 2010, was in an "unfavourable – recovering" condition.
Skiddaw Forest is the ancient name of an expanse of land to the east of Skiddaw summit, with the word "forest" referring here to a medieval pattern of land ownership. In 2024 the forest area within the Underskiddaw civil parish area, essentially SSSI units 30 and 31 together with the summits of Skiddaw (unit 16) and Great Calva (unit 17), was purchased by Cumbria Wildlife Trust as a 1,200 ha (4.6 sq mi) nature reserve. The long term biodiversity and rewilding goals include encouraging tree growth to create tracts of temperate rainforest, and restoring peatlands.
Unit 30, Skiddaw Forest West, was assessed in 2021 as having "favourable" conditions for invertebrate and breeding bird features, but "unfavourable – recovering" blanket bog and upland dry heath habitats. Conditions in unit 31, Skiddaw Forest East were assessed as "favourable" in 2021.
The northern part of the SSSI includes several sites of former mines, noted today for the presence of minerals in spoil heaps and erosion sites.
Spoil heaps at Red Gill Mine (NY295347, unit 26) include rare, crystallised lead sulphates, carbonates and phosphates. An adjacent mine at Roughtongill (NY302344, unit 23) reveals supergene minerals including copper and zinc varieties. English Heritage undertook a detailed survey of Roughtongill in 2001 and reported on its history and archaeology.
Dry Gill Lead Mine (NY324345, unit 24) has a unique form of mimetite, known as 'campylite'. Natural England surveyed the site in 2022 and found the exposed mineral veins had been damaged by collectors in the past but not recently. Burdell Gill (NY307324, unit 20) "is of national importance as the only relatively abundant source of the rare arsenic mineral, pharmacosiderite, in Britain." A vein at Wet Swine Gill (NY314321) includes stibnite and fuloppite but the 2022 survey (SSSI Unit 2) found that geological specimen collecting continued to cause damage. In the Carrock Mine – Brandy Gill spoil heaps (NY322338) the mineralisation is tungsten-rich. The Carrock Tungsten Mine (NY323329) and Carrock End Copper Mine are Scheduled Monuments.
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Skiddaw Group SSSI
Skiddaw Group SSSI is a site of special scientific interest in the Lake District High Fells, England. Its shape is approximately an irregular circle centred near Great Calva, with an area of 10,256.3 hectares (39.600 sq mi). The high ground creates a watershed between the Caldew Operational Catchment with water flowing north towards Carlisle, and the Ellen and West Coast and Derwent Operational Catchments flowing towards the west coast at Workington and Maryport. The area includes the Skiddaw Forest nature reserve.
The SSSI is designated for its flora and fauna, and for its geology. The geology includes the Skiddaw Group of sedimentary rock formations, and the Caldbeck Fells former mining area. Fells above 2,000 feet (610 m) include High Pike, Carrock Fell, Knott, Great Calva, and Bowscale Fell. The highest peaks are in the Skiddaw area, including Skiddaw itself, Long Side, Carl Side, Little Man, Lonscale Fell and, further east, Blencathra.
The SSSI is divided into a patchwork of "units" which are used as the level of geographic detail for reporting overall features and conditions. Each unit is identified by the Ordnance Survey grid reference at the centre of the unit, its area in hectares, the date it was last surveyed, and the drainage catchment it is located in. For example Bassenthwaite Common, which is unit 27, is nearly 700 ha (2.7 sq mi) centred at NY252299 in the Dash beck catchment. The habitat is there is dwarf shrub heath which, when surveyed in November 2010, was in an "unfavourable – recovering" condition.
Skiddaw Forest is the ancient name of an expanse of land to the east of Skiddaw summit, with the word "forest" referring here to a medieval pattern of land ownership. In 2024 the forest area within the Underskiddaw civil parish area, essentially SSSI units 30 and 31 together with the summits of Skiddaw (unit 16) and Great Calva (unit 17), was purchased by Cumbria Wildlife Trust as a 1,200 ha (4.6 sq mi) nature reserve. The long term biodiversity and rewilding goals include encouraging tree growth to create tracts of temperate rainforest, and restoring peatlands.
Unit 30, Skiddaw Forest West, was assessed in 2021 as having "favourable" conditions for invertebrate and breeding bird features, but "unfavourable – recovering" blanket bog and upland dry heath habitats. Conditions in unit 31, Skiddaw Forest East were assessed as "favourable" in 2021.
The northern part of the SSSI includes several sites of former mines, noted today for the presence of minerals in spoil heaps and erosion sites.
Spoil heaps at Red Gill Mine (NY295347, unit 26) include rare, crystallised lead sulphates, carbonates and phosphates. An adjacent mine at Roughtongill (NY302344, unit 23) reveals supergene minerals including copper and zinc varieties. English Heritage undertook a detailed survey of Roughtongill in 2001 and reported on its history and archaeology.
Dry Gill Lead Mine (NY324345, unit 24) has a unique form of mimetite, known as 'campylite'. Natural England surveyed the site in 2022 and found the exposed mineral veins had been damaged by collectors in the past but not recently. Burdell Gill (NY307324, unit 20) "is of national importance as the only relatively abundant source of the rare arsenic mineral, pharmacosiderite, in Britain." A vein at Wet Swine Gill (NY314321) includes stibnite and fuloppite but the 2022 survey (SSSI Unit 2) found that geological specimen collecting continued to cause damage. In the Carrock Mine – Brandy Gill spoil heaps (NY322338) the mineralisation is tungsten-rich. The Carrock Tungsten Mine (NY323329) and Carrock End Copper Mine are Scheduled Monuments.