CITATION BURNMOUTH COAST SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST

Site code: 278

NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE: NT 949647 to NT 979575

OS 1:50,000 SHEET NO: Landranger Series 67, 75 1:25,000 SHEET NO: Explorer Series 346

AREA: 161.48 hectares

NOTIFIED NATURAL FEATURES

Geological: Structural and metamorphic geology: Caledonian Structures Stratigraphy: Lower Carboniferous [Dinantian - Namurian (part)]

Biological: Coastlands: Maritime cliff Invertebrates: Fly assemblage

DESCRIPTION

The Burnmouth Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) comprises an 8 km long section along the sea cliffs and foreshore of the Coast. The site is centred on the village of Burnmouth, extending north of the village to the headland near the entrance to harbour, and south to the national boundary with England. The site is of geological and biological interest.

There are two separate geological interest features within the SSSI representing rocks formed at two different periods in the geological past.

In the northern section, rocks of Llandovery age of the Silurian geological period represent the feature of interest. The rocks are siltstones and shales that have been folded by intense compressive stress that was generated during the Caledonian mountain-building episode which formed the Southern Uplands. The Caledonian Structures within the site are exceptional not only in the Southern Uplands but in the Caledonian Orogenic Belt as a whole.

In the southern section, the interest is the Dinantian age rock succession of the Carboniferous period that occurs over a 3 km section of coast, south from a point just north of Burnmouth. This section provides near-continuous exposure through more than 600 metres of strata that are typical of the Lower Carboniferous deposits of this north-eastern area of the Northumberland Trough. Situated between the Midland Valley and other parts of the Northumberland Trough, this succession has been intensively studied and is of importance in linking the Scottish and English Lower Carboniferous sequences. It is therefore a key site for understanding the palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic evolution of Northern Britain.

The biological interest of the site is the coastal grassland on the sea cliffs throughout the site. This habitat supports an outstanding diversity of maritime grassland plants including scrub and species now rare in and the Borders. These include spring squill Scilla verna, waxy lady’s-mantle Alchemilla glaucescens, common butterwort Pinguicula vulgaris, salad burnet Sanguisorba minor, and great horsetail Equisetum telmateia.

Associated with the coastal grassland habitat are several invertebrate species of restricted distribution nationally. Of national interest are the flies found in the seepages of the cliffs, including the Red Data List limoniid cranefly Dicranomyia goritiensis. Of local interest are butterflies including a colony of the rare small blue butterfly Cupido minimus, grayling Hipparchia semele, wall Lasiommata megera, dark green fritillary Argynnis aglaja, the cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae and the six- spot burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae.

NOTIFICATION HISTORY First notified under the 1949 Act: 1961 and 1972 Re-notified under the 1981 Act: 17 January 1986 with a 83 ha increase in area. Notification reviewed under the 2004 Act: 16 March 2011

REMARKS Measured area of site corrected (from 168.7 ha).

The intertidal part of Burnmouth Coast SSSI is part of the Berwickshire Coast (intertidal) SSSI notified for the marine habitats: Rocky shore and Sea caves.

The same intertidal part of Burnmouth Coast SSSI is also designated as part of the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast special area of conservation (SAC) for the European habitats and species listed below:

Habitat: Intertidal mudflats and sandflats Reefs Sea caves Shallow inlets and bays

Species: Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus)

Burnmouth Coast SSSI is contiguous with the Northumberland Shore SSSI and with the Northumbria Coast special protection area (SPA) which are both in England.