Steeple Point to Marsland Mouth


Steeple Point to Marsland Mouth is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for its biological characteristics.

Geography

The site, notified in 1973, is situated on the north Cornish coast, within Morwenstow civil parish, north of the town of Bude. It starts at Steeple Point in the south, following the shores of the Celtic Sea in the Atlantic Ocean to Marsland Mouth in the north, which is on the Cornwall-Devon border. This site is contiguous with the Bude Coast, Duckpool to Furzey Cove and Marsland to Clovelly Coast chain of SSSIs on this section of coastline.
The South West Coast Path runs through the SSSI and parts of the coastline are owned by the National Trust. The SSSI also covers the Cornish side of Marsland Valley nature reserve, jointly owned by the Devon and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts.

Wildlife and ecology

The SSSI is sited on a geological formation of Upper Carboniferous Culm Measures, which support a variety of habitats including maritime grassland, woodland, maritime heath, scrub, bodies of water as well as rocky foreshore and cliffs.

Flora

Amongst the cliff edge grassland buckshorn plantain, carline thistle, red fescue, thrift and wild thyme can be found. Along with some of these species bell heather, heather, burnet rose, catsear, eyebright, western gorse and yarrow grow in the heathlands.

Fauna

The SSSI supports a wide variety of invertebrates, in particular butterflies and 14 species of dragonfly.
Uncommon species of butterfly found include brown hairstreak, grayling, grizzled skipper, high brown fritillary and marsh fritillary. The coastline of the SSSI supported one of the last known British colonies of breeding large blue butterfly, which was declared nationally extinct in 1979. Thereafter, from 1983 the butterfly was reintroduced to the country, including at locations on this site.
The coastal habitats support bird-life including the great black-backed gull and stonechat, while the common buzzard, dipper, sparrowhawk and wood warbler can be found in the woodland areas.
Roe deer are also found in the Marsland Valley section of the site.