Salta Moss
{{Short description|A Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria, England}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Salta Moss
| iucn_category =
| photo = File:Salta Moss ditch and track.jpg
| photo_caption = Farm track and irrigation channel on Salta Moss.
| map = United Kingdom Allerdale#Cumbria
| map_image =
| map_size =
| map_caption = Location in Allerdale, Cumbria##Location in Cumbria, England
| label = Salta Moss
| label_position = left
| relief = 1
| location = Holme St. Cuthbert civil parish, Cumbria, UK
| nearest_city =
| nearest_town = Maryport
| coordinates = {{coord|54.7934|-3.4243|dim:20000|display=inline,title}}
| length =
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| area_ha = 45.62
| area_ref =
| elevation = 7.6m
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| designation =
| authorized =
| created =
| designated = August 1982
| established =
| named_for = The hamlet of Salta
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| governing_body = Natural England
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Salta Moss is a raised blanket mire which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest ('SSSI') located in the hamlet of Salta, in Cumbria, United Kingdom. It was determined to be of biological interest (as opposed to geological interest, the other criteria for SSSIs) under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The site, measuring {{convert|45.6|ha}}, was officially designated in August 1982.{{cite web |title=Unit Detail - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/UnitDetail.aspx?UnitId=1014958&SiteCode=S1000469&SiteName=salta%20moss&countyCode=&responsiblePerson= |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
Location
The SSSI is located in the hamlet of Salta, which is in the civil parish of Holme St. Cuthbert, in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria. The site is approximately {{convert|0.5|mi|km}} from the coast, approximately {{convert|7.6|m|ft}} above sea level,{{cite web |title=Salta Moss, Allerdale |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/salta-moss-allerdale |website=Ordnance Survey |accessdate=15 September 2019}} and nearby settlements include Dubmill, Edderside, Hailforth, and Mawbray. In addition to its status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Salta Moss has some further legal protection due to this section of Solway Firth coastline being a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.{{cite web |title=Document #10000469 - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000469.pdf |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}} Known as the Solway Coast and headquartered at Silloth, the AONB runs from the estuaries of the rivers Esk and Eden (near Carlisle) to Skinburness, and again from Beckfoot to Crosscanonby along Allonby Bay.{{cite web |title=Plan your visit |url=https://www.solwaycoastaonb.org.uk/2019/plan-your-visit/ |website=Solway Coast AONB |accessdate=15 September 2019}} Furthermore, the sea at Allonby Bay is a Marine Conservation Zone,{{cite web |title=A new wave of protection for our seas |url=https://www.livingseasnw.org.uk/news/new-wave-protection-our-seas |website=Living Seas North West |date=31 May 2019 |accessdate=15 September 2019}} granting protection to local aquatic life.
Etymology
The word Moss in this case refers to a peat bog, not the family of plants. The word comes from the Old English meos or mos, and ultimately from the proto-Germanic musan.{{cite web |title=Origin and meaning of "Moss" |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/moss |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |accessdate=15 September 2019}} The name Salta comes from the Old English sēalt-tir, meaning "land of salt", or simply "salt land". This is due to the Anglo-Saxon era saltmaking industry known to have been present on this part of the Solway coast.{{cite web|last1=Kendal|editor=Francis Grainger and W G Collingwood|title='Records : The Holm under Elizabeth', in Register and Records of Holm Cultram|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/n-westmorland-records/vol7/pp167-176|publisher=British History Online|accessdate=15 September 2019|pages=167–176|date=1929}} Several local house names include the word Moss, or the names of plant species which grow there.
Historical significance
In the 1980s, a rapier from the Bronze Age was discovered on Salta Moss,{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Colin |title=The Dirks and Rapiers of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E46ZMgf41BoC&q=%22salta+moss%22&pg=PA107 |accessdate=15 September 2019|isbn=9783406070839 |year=1981 |publisher=C.H.Beck }}{{cite web |title=Prehistoric era |url=https://www.solwaycoastaonb.org.uk/2019/a-special-place/heritage/prehistoric/ |website=Solway Coast AONB |accessdate=15 September 2019}} which may have been crafted as early as 1100 BC.{{cite book|last1=Holme St. Cuthbert History Group|title=Plain People: Bygone Times on the Solway Plain|date=2004|isbn=978-0954882310}} The sword was donated to the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, where it is on display as of 2019.{{cite web |title=Local History |url=http://www.holmestcuthbertparish.com/local-history/ |website=Holme St. Cuthbert Parish Council |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
Plant life
File:Gorse flower on Salta Moss.JPG
Several species of bog and moor plants are present on Salta Moss. These include Molinia caerulea, commonly known as purple moor grass, which is native to Great Britain and often seen on boggy or marshy ground. There are also several varieties of Ericaceae, commonly known as heather, as well as gorse. The site is known as a raised blanket mire (or blanket bog) due to its climate and the presence of peat. There is also a small area of woodland, and the site sits atop a large deposit of glacial sand. Sand from this same deposit is quarried within a few miles of the SSSI at Overby, near New Cowper.{{cite web |title=Overby Sand Quarry |url=https://www.agg-net.com/aggregates/overby-sand-quarry |website=Agg-Net |date=14 January 2013 |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
The main species noted by Natural England, and given as reasons for the SSSI designation, are as follows:{{cite web |title=SSSI Details Salta Moss - Notified Features |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000469&SiteName=Salta+Moss&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}{{cite web |title=Document #10000469 - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000469.pdf |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
- Angelica sylvestris (wild angelica)
- Carex rostrata (bottle or beaked sedge)
- Erica tetralix (cross-leaved heath)
- Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet or mead wort)
- Galium palustre (marsh-bedstraw)
- Juncus acutiflorus (sharp-flowered rush)
- Juncus effusus (common or soft rush)
- Menyanthes trifoliata (bog bean)
- Molinia caerulea (purple moor grass)
- Phragmites communis (common reed)
- Potentilla erecta (tormentil or septfoil)
- Salix pentandra (bay willow)
- Sphagnum cuspidatum (feathery bog-moss or toothed peat moss)
- Sphagnum papillosum (papillose bog-moss){{cite web |title=Papillose Bog-moss |url=https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/papillose-bog-moss |website=NatureSpot |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
- Sphagnum recurvum
- Vaccinium oxycoccos (cranberry, or bog or swamp cranberry)
Animal life
Vipera berus, commonly known as adders, are present on Salta Moss. This species is Britain's only native venomous snake, and they are known to prey on small rodents, such as voles and field mice. Adders occasionally bite people, and their bite, while painful, is usually not fatal and the species is not considered especially dangerous to humans.{{cite journal |title=Treatment of bites by adders and exotic venomous snakes |pmc=1289323 |year=2005 |last1=Warrell |first1=D. A. |journal=BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) |volume=331 |issue=7527 |pages=1244–1247 |pmid=16308385 |doi=10.1136/bmj.331.7527.1244 }} Melanistic adders (adders which have dark pigmentation) are also noted to be present.{{cite web |title=Document #10000469 - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000469.pdf |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
Parts of the site provide shelter for roe deer, and breeding grounds for warblers,{{cite web |title=Document #10000469 - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000469.pdf |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}} and in addition many other species of wild birds are present, both migratory and nonmigratory.{{cite web |title=Wildlife - Birds |url=https://www.solwaycoastaonb.org.uk/2019/a-special-place/ecology/wildlife/birds/ |website=Solway Coast AONB |accessdate=15 September 2019}}
Status
Natural England, the governing body of all SSSIs in England, regards parts of the site as destroyed and various other parts as under threat.{{cite web |title=Site Units - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteUnitList.aspx?SiteCode=S1000469&SiteName=Salta%20Moss&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&unitId=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}{{cite web |title=Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1982-10-27/debates/896d2133-c12e-46c6-af6f-dbf5991b6fff/SaltaMossSssi |website=Hansard (UK Parliament) |accessdate=15 September 2019}} This is primarily due to agricultural activity and draining of groundwater.{{cite web |title=Unit Detail - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/UnitDetail.aspx?UnitId=1014958&SiteCode=S1000469&SiteName=salta+moss&countyCode=&responsiblePerson= |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}} Maintaining the site's status as an SSSI depends upon the retention of a high water table. Natural England notes that further draining of the site would put it at increased risk.{{cite web |title=Document #10000469 - Salta Moss SSSI |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000469.pdf |website=Natural England |accessdate=15 September 2019}}