Coatham Marsh

Coatham Marsh has been pinpointed as the site of one of the last strongholds of northern nobles as they held out against the invasion by William the Conqueror. A battle is believed to have been fought here, in either 1069, or 1070, with the defensive structures remaining visible until the early 20th century.{{sfn|Page|1968|p=374}}{{cite book |last1=Cockcroft |first1=Janet |title=Redcar and Coatham; a history to the end of the 19th century |date=1996 |publisher=A. A. Southeran |location=Cleveland |isbn=0-905032-05-5 |page=4}}

The site was used in the 12th and 13th centuries as a place to produce salt from seawater.{{cite web |title=Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre {{!}} Coatham - a forgotten Yorkshire haven near Redcar |url=https://www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk/article.php?article=63 |website=scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk |access-date=8 February 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Garden |first1=Jane |title=The Iron Coast |date=1994 |publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson |location=London |isbn=1-85619-427-2 |page=4}} The evidence of these saltings can still be found in the present day marsh.

In the early 1840s, as the land remained undeveloped, it was regularly flooded by high tides.{{sfn|Page|1968|p=371}}

The habitat suffered pollution, during the 1960s 70s and 80s, due to waste from local steel and iron plants being dumped onto Coatham Marsh.{{cite journal |last1=Mayes |first1=W. M. |last2=Younger |first2=P. L. |last3=Aumônier |first3=J. |title=Hydrogeochemistry of Alkaline Steel Slag Leachates in the UK |journal=Water, Air, and Soil Pollution |date=November 2008 |volume=195 |issue=1–4 |page=38 |doi=10.1007/s11270-008-9725-9|bibcode=2008WASP..195...35M }}{{cite journal |last1=Riley |first1=Alex L. |last2=MacDonald |first2=John M. |last3=Burke |first3=Ian T. |last4=Renforth |first4=Phil |last5=Jarvis |first5=Adam P. |last6=Hudson-Edwards |first6=Karen A. |last7=McKie |first7=Jessica |last8=Mayes |first8=William M. |title=Legacy iron and steel wastes in the UK: Extent, resource potential, and management futures |journal=Journal of Geochemical Exploration |date=December 2020 |volume=219 |page=6 |doi=10.1016/j.gexplo.2020.106630|bibcode=2020JCExp.21906630R }}

The building of the Redcar steelworks complex in the late 1970s, necessitated the diversion of the railway line to Redcar and Saltburn through the middle of Coatham Marsh, splitting the site in two. {{cite web |title=Coatham Marsh - Visit Tees Valley |url=https://teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/visit/things-to-see-and-do/activities/coatham-marsh/ |website=teesvalley-ca.gov.uk |access-date=8 February 2024}}

The site was owned by British Steel (later Corus, then Tata Steel), and since 1982 it has been managed by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust.{{cite book |last1=Gomes |first1=H. I. |last2=Rogerson |first2=M. |last3=Courtney |first3=R. |last4=Mayes |first4=W. M. |editor1-last=Macaskie |editor1-first=Lynn E |editor2-last=Sapsford |editor2-first=Devin J. |editor3-last=Mayes |editor3-first=Will M. |title=Resource recovery from wastes; towards a circular economy |date=2020 |publisher=Royal Society of Chenistry |location=London |isbn=978-1-78801-381-9 |page=181 |chapter=7: Integrating remediation and resource recovery of industrial alkaline wastes}} Coatham Marsh was designated an SSSI as part of the Teesside and Cleveland Coast in 2018.{{cite web |title=Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/2000856.pdf |website=designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk |access-date=8 February 2024}}{{cite web |title=Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI |url=https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000856%27 |website=magic.defra.gov.uk |access-date=8 February 2024}}

The site has a small beck called The Fleet which drains south-westwards from Redcar and feeds into the River Tees via Dabholm Gut. The Fleet supplies and drains several reedbed-fringed ponds on Coatham Marsh, and drains an area of {{convert|20|km2}}.{{cite web |title=Net Zero Teesside Project |url=https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/EN010103/EN010103-001912-NZT%20DCO%209.17%20-%20Hydrogeological%20Impact%20Assessment%20July%202022%20(D4).pdf |website=infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk |access-date=8 February 2024 |page=19 |date=July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Water Environment Improvements Project Evidence Form |url=https://www.nwg.co.uk/globalassets/project-evidence-form-wilder-coast-21-22.pdf |website=nwg.co.uk |access-date=8 February 2024 |page=12}} Coatham Marsh is bounded by the A1085 to the south, Tod Point Road to the north, Locke Park and Coatham to the east, and the former Redcar Steelworks to the west (now known as the Teesworks site).{{cite book |last1=Harrap |first1=Simon |last2=Redman |first2=Nigel |title=Where to watch birds in Britain |date=2010|orig-date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-1059-1 |page=440 |edition=2}}

Otters have been noted on the marsh, having been assumed to be behind the depletion of managed fish stocks in the ponds on the marsh.{{cite news |last1=Webber |first1=Chris |title=Otters have devastated our fish stock, say anglers |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10295151.otters-devastated-fish-stock-say-teesside-anglers/ |access-date=8 February 2024 |work=The Northern Echo |date=17 March 2013}} Over 200 species of bird have been noted at the site, including spoonbill, gadwall, wood sandpiper, white-winged black tern, Temminck's stint, black redstart, curlew sandpiper, stone curlew, pochard, reed warbler, reed bunting, water rail, and tufted duck.{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Jacquie A. |last2=Wernham |first2=Chris V. |last3=Balmer |first3=Dawn E. |last4=Adams |first4=Sue Y. |last5=Griffin |first5=Bridget M. |last6=Blackburn |first6=Jeremy R. |last7=Anning |first7=Dave |last8=Milne |first8=Linda J. |title=Bird ringing in Britain and Ireland in 1999 |journal=Ringing & Migration |date=May 2001 |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=269 |doi=10.1080/03078698.2001.9674252}}{{cite news |last1=May |first1=Derwent |title=Feather report |work=The Times |issue=67143 |date=19 May 2001 |page=65|issn=0140-0460}}{{cite news |last1=Randall |first1=David |title=Wild Britain: Week 1. The Best of the Wildlife Trust's sites |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/wild-britain-week-1-the-best-of-the-wildlife-trust-s-sites-2029212.html |access-date=8 February 2024 |work=The Independent |date=17 July 2010}} Dragon and damselflies noted at the site include the common darter, common blue and large red damselfly.{{cite web |title=WT Coatham Marsh |url=https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/sites/wt-coatham-marsh/ |website=british-dragonflies.org.uk |access-date=8 February 2024}}

The saline-loving moss bryum marratii (Baltic Byrum), has historically been noted at the site.{{cite book |last1=Porley |first1=Ron |title=England's rare mosses & liverworts: their history, ecology, and conservation |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0-691-15871-6 |page=66}} Other plants that have been noted at the site include the northern marsh orchid, the yellow wort, and the bee orchid.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=William |title=The Victoria history of the county of York, North Riding volume 2 |date=1968 |publisher=Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Research |location=London |isbn=0712903100}}

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cleveland, England

Category:Redcar