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Special Areas of Conservation

Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country England Offshore
Unitary Authority Extra-Regio
Centroid* TG670344
Latitude 52.841
Longitude 1.966
SAC EU Code UK0030369
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 146759
* 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 Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton SAC

General site character

  • Marine areas, Sea inlets (100%)

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

  • 1110 Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time

    The Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton site lies off the north east coast of Norfolk, and contains a series of sandbanks which meet the Annex I habitat description ‘Sandbanks slightly covered by sea water all the time’. The central sandbank ridge in the site is composed of alternating ridge headland associated sandbanks (Dyer & Huntley, 1999). This ridge consists of the sinusoidal banks which have evolved over the last 5,000 years, originally associated with the coastal alignment at the time that the Holocene marine transgression occurred (Cooper et al, 2008). The bank system consists of: Haisborough Sand, Haisborough Tail, Hammond Knoll, Winterton Ridge and Hearty Knoll. Hewett Ridge and Smiths Knoll form an older (~7,000BP) sequence of sandbank ridges located along the outer site boundary. Inshore are the Newarp Banks and North and Middle Cross Sands which lie on the south west corner of the site. These banks are believed to be geologically recent, their genesis dating to around the 5th Century AD (Cooper et al, 2008).

  • 1170 Reefs

    Sabellaria spinulosa reefs are located at Haisborough Tail, Haisborough Gat and between Winterton Ridge and Hewett Ridge. They arise from the surrounding coarse sandy seabed to heights of between 5cm to 10cm. The reefs are consolidated structures of sand tubes showing seafloor coverage of between 30 per cent to areas where reef occupies 100 per cent of the sediment. Some parts of the reefs appear to be acting as sediment traps, with exposed tube height accordingly reduced within the core parts of reefs.

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

  • Not Applicable

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.