Puneet Varma (Editor)

Danes Moss Nature Reserve

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
OS grid
  
SJ907704

Address
  
Macclesfield SK11 7XB, UK

Elevation
  
160m

Danes Moss Nature Reserve

Type
  
Nature reserve and SSSI

Location
  
near Macclesfield, Cheshire

Area
  
13.4 hectares (33 acres)

Operated by
  
Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Similar
  
Bollington Household Waste Re, F C C Environm, Brereton, RSPB Coombes Valley, Gawsworth Hall

Danes Moss Nature Reserve is a 13.4-hectare (33-acre) nature reserve south of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. A Site of Special Scientific Interest, it is managed by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Danes Moss is a lowland raised bog, a rare and threatened habitat in the United Kingdom. The SSSI citation describes it as "the largest example in Cheshire of a cut-over raised mire...a valuable example of a habitat now rare in lowland England", noting that the peat is up to 5 metres (16 ft) deep, a substantial thickness. Seven species of Sphagnum moss are found here. Locally uncommon plants include round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), bottle sedge (Carex rostrata), common lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) and fen bedstraw (Galium uliginosum) and the nationally rare Labrador-tea (Rhododendron tomentosum).

The reserve is also known for its insects. Eleven species of dragonflies and damselflies have been recorded, including the black darter (Sympetrum danae) (Britain's smallest dragonfly) and the four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata). They are joined by 19 species of butterfly, including the green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi).

References

Danes Moss Nature Reserve Wikipedia