Langport Railway Cutting

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.0411, -2.8194

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Also within

Somerset County

Condition (Natural England)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
ST426271 — Favourable 0.36 2012-03-07

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Quaternary

Description

Area, 0.51 ha. 1.26 ac. Description Gravels exposed at Langport Railway Cutting show scour and fill structures consistent with braided stream deposition. A restricted molluscan assemblage Pisidium sp, Trichia cf. hispida, Cepaea sp, Limacidae, Vertigo sp and Pupilla muscorum, an insect Caddis sp, grass seeds and rhizocretes have been reported, suggesting marshy open ground and a cold climate. Below the Holocene soil, the gravels are decalcified and cryoturbated to a depth of about one metre. Beneath this level a discontinuous, carbonate cemented, 'plugged horizon' is present within the gravels. This site is of importance as one of the few permanently exposed localities for cold stage Pleistocene gravels in south Somerset and more particularly because it is the first site in Britain in which typical calcrete features have been recorded. As such it is of national significance and has considerable research potential.

Plant communities

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea