Ely Pits and Meadows

{{Infobox SSSI

|image= Roswell Pits - geograph.org.uk - 1553859.jpg

|image_caption =

|name=

|aos= Cambridgeshire

|interest=Biological
Geological

|gridref={{gbmappingsmall| TL 558 807 }}

|area= 85.8 hectares

|notifydate= 2008

|map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000642%27 Magic Map]

}}

Ely Pits and Meadows is an {{convert|85.8|hectare|acre|adj=on}} Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the eastern outskirts of Ely in Cambridgeshire. It is the only SSSI in the county which is designated both for its biological and geological interest.{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S2000642&SiteName=ely&countyCode=&responsiblePerson= |title=Designated Sites View: Ely Pits and Meadows | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate = 1 December 2016}}{{cite web|url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000642%27|title=Map of Ely Pits and Meadows|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate= 1 December 2016}} It is also a Geological Conservation Review site,{{cite web|url= http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4174&gcr=1156 |title=Roswell Pits, Ely (Jurassic - Cretaceous Reptilia) |publisher=Joint Nature Conservation Committee|accessdate= 1 December 2016}} and an area of 8 hectares is the Roswell Pits nature reserve, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.{{cite web |url= http://www.wildlifebcn.org/reserves/roswell-pits |title= Roswell Pits |publisher= Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire |accessdate= 1 December 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160817125851/http://www.wildlifebcn.org/reserves/roswell-pits |archive-date= 17 August 2016 |url-status= dead }}

This site on the bank of the River Great Ouse has disused clay and beet pits, grassland and ponds. It has yielded an extensive assemblage of fossils reptiles dating to the Kimmeridgian, around 155 million years ago in the late Jurassic. Its biological interest lies mainly in its breeding birds, especially nationally rare wintering and breeding bitterns. There are also water voles and at least six species of bat.{{cite web|url= http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/2000642.pdf|title= Ely Pits and Meadows citation|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher= Natural England|accessdate= 1 December 2016|archive-date= 4 March 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045340/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/2000642.pdf|url-status= dead}}

There is access to Roswell Pits by a footpath from Kiln Lane.