Mendip Online

a guide to the city, towns, villages, countryside & attractions

The Mendip Countryside

The countryside ranges from the Somerset Levels, with their rhynes and wetlands, to the steep gorges at the edges of the Mendip Hills. There are several Nature Reserves in the area and we are building a list below. Please contact us if you know of something that we have missed. We do not charge for links to the countryside.

	Ebbor Gorge Ebbor Gorge National Nature Reserve is a largely wooded site occupying a prominent position on the southern escarpment of the Mendip Hills.It is part of the Mendip Woodlands Special Area of Conservation. more info ...
	Glastonbury Tor Visible for miles around the Tor continues to attract visitros. It is a steep climb but worth it for the panoramic views. The Tor is managed by the National Trust and open 365 days a year. more info ...
	Ham Wall Here you can enjoy a newly created wetland, which provides a safe home for many rare species including water voles and otters. In spring the reedbeds are alive with birdsong and in autumn you can see kingfishers flashing up and down the ditches. Bitterns are seen regularly all year round. The nearest town is Glastonbury. more info ...
	Mendip Hills An area of outstanding Natural Beauty. Stretching eastward from the Bristol Channel, the imposing 300m ridge of the Mendips rises, like a rampart above the Somerset Levels. The landscape's distinctive silver-grey crags, gorges, dry valleys and rock outcrops show unmistakably that this is carboniferous limestone country. Sink holes and depressions pockmark the surface and chemical action on the rock has produced spectacular underground caves. more info ...
	Rodney Stoke An ash/lime woodland on the southern scarp of the Mendip Hills. The woodland is in two separate blocks (Big Stoke and Little Stoke) linked by an area of abandoned fields which has turned to scrub.The site has an abundance of small-leaved lime, all of which is of coppice origin. more info ...
	Shapwick Heath A major wetland reserve forming a large part of the Avalon Marshes. It boasts a wide variety of habitats, including traditionally managed herb-rich grassland, ferny wet woodland, fen, scrub, and ditches rich in aquatic plants and invertebrates. Otters, as well as many insects, plants and birds, populate the whole area. Small pockets of sphagnum moss, which once covered the whole valley floor, can also be found. more info ...
	Westhay Moor The National Nature Reserve consists mainly of restored peat fields and water-filled compartments containing islands with areas of reeds and bulrushes. There are areas of poor fen and also an old fragment of acid mire that is being restored. Westhay Moor is north of Westhay village , 5 km north west of Glastonbury. There is a car park on the reserve, adjacent to Westhay Moor Drove. more info ...
	Wildlife Trusts Nature Reserves A guide to Nature Reserves in Somerset. more info ...
	Walks in the Mendip Area The Mendip Rural Walks leaflets are on sale for 50p each at all Tourist Information Centres in Mendip. The Mendip Council website has an introduction to each of the Rural Walks leaflets. more info ...




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