Holly Lane

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.4502, -2.8373

Also within

Somerset County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable No Change (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
ST419726 Unfavourable No Change 0.47 2012-12-06

Climate exposure

This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.

Coastal

Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: Cave / Cavern · Geological Period: Quaternary

Landscape processes: Coastal, Karst

Description

Area, 0.5 ha. 1.2 ac. Description This locality shows deep subaerial sands and breccias burying a fossil cliff, shore platform, wave cut notch and cave. The sands are of Pleistocene age and thought to beaeolian windblown cover sands. They contain recycled foraminifera eroded from older rocks and open ground terrestrial mollusca. A large mammalian fauna of 'coldstage', open ground aspect has been found here, including horse, bear, wolf, fox and several rodent species. This is one of the best Pleistocene mammalian localities in south west England. It is also of considerable importance as an example of 'cold stage' sedimentation in terrestrial environments.