Swindale Beck

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 54.6430, -2.4845

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Also within

Cumbria County North Pennines Scenic Area

Condition (Natural England)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
NY688276 — Favourable 0.93 2020-01-17

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Limestone

Description

Area, 0.8 hectares 2.0 ac Description Swindale Beck lies just over half a kilometre from the village of Knock. The gill is lightly wooded and intensively grazed. The stream gully represents an important section through the Caradoc and Ashgill of the Cross Fell Inlier exposing rocks of Longvillian, Marshbrookian, Actonian and Pusgillian age, with the type development of the Swindale Limestone. Here the upper contact of the Pusgillian with the overlying strata, absent in nearby Pus Gill itself, is well exposed. It is the source of much trilobite type material and a key section in the upper Ordivician of the Cross Fell Inlier.

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