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Special Areas of Conservation

Holme Moor and Clean Moor

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country England
Unitary Authority Dorset and Somerset
Centroid* ST094260
Latitude 51.02527778
Longitude -3.291666667
SAC EU Code UK0012883
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 7.43
* This is the approximate central point of the SAC. In the case of large, linear or composite sites, this may not represent the location where a feature occurs within the SAC.
Location of Holme Moor and Clean Moor SAC

General site character

  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (11%)
  • Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (4%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (85%)

Download the Standard Data Form for this site (PDF <100kb)

Note When undertaking an appropriate assessment of impacts at a site, all features of European importance (both primary and non-primary) need to be considered.

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • 7210 Calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus and species of the Caricion davallianae  * Priority feature

    This is a relatively small site but it is important as an outlier of calcareous fens in south-west England, where Cladium is a local and rare species. The site occupies an unusual ecological situation on the spring line at the foot of a scarp slope. Although not currently managed, management continued until comparatively recently and in part explains the high species-richness of this site. There are important species-rich transitions from Cladium fen to mire with black bog-rush Schoenus nigricans and blunt-flowered rush Juncus subnodulosus, as well as to fen-meadow vegetation with purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea and meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum.

  • 7230 Alkaline fens

    These sites are situated on the north-facing slope of the upper reaches of a small valley and are fed by a mix of acidic and base-rich springs. The most species-rich example of alkaline fen is on Clean Moor, where black bog-rush Schoenus nigricans and blunt-flowered rush Juncus subnodulosus have many associates including the moss Scorpidium scorpioides, small sedges such as Carex pulicaris, C. panicea and C. viridula ssp brachyrrhyncha, and other low growing species such as lousewort Pedicularis palustris and the orchids Gymnadenia conopsea, Dactylorhiza fuchsii and D. praetermissa. In addition to NVC type M13 Schoenus nigricans – Juncus subnodulosus mire around the base-rich seepages there is also species-poor swamp with great fen-sedge Cladium mariscus and hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum, and fen meadow on Holme Moor. Holme Moor & Clean Moor is important as a south-westerly site for alkaline fen.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

  • Not Applicable

Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of a site in these pages does not imply any right of public access.