In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England, which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geological sites.[7] As of August 2016, there are 86 sites designated in Essex.[8] There are 19 sites with a purely geological interest, and 64 listed for biological interest. A further three sites are designated for both reasons.
The largest is Foulness, which is internationally important for wildfowl and waders, and has 71 nationally rare invertebrate species.[9] The smallest is Holland-on-Sea Cliff, a geological site which throws light on the course of the River Thames before it was diverted south by the Anglian glaciation around 450,000 years ago.[10]Hangman's Wood and Deneholes has deneholes, shafts created by medieval chalk mining which are now used by hibernating bats.[11]Lion Pit is the site of flint-knapping by Neanderthals around 200,000 years ago, and it has been possible to fit back together some of the flint flakes.[12]
This site exposes a number of interglacials, including one dated to the Hoxnian Stage around 400,000 years ago, and some much older. It also has a horizon with very rare plant micro-fossils dating to a cold period.[18]
The site is unimproved grassland which is used for hay growing, with some areas calcareous and others neutral. It is the only known example of grassland on chalky boulder clay in north-west Essex. Flora includes salad burnet, downy oat-grass and fen bedstraw.[19]
The site is composed of three unimproved meadows which have a wide variety of herbs. Flowers include the green-winged orchid and yellow rattle, which are rare in Essex. There is also a small pond and scattered scrub.[20]
The site is coppice woodland on chalky boulder clay. There is a variety of woodlands types, such as wet ash and maple, and acid birch, ash and lime. The ground flora includes species which are locally uncommon, including greater butterfly-orchid and bird's-nest orchid.[23]
This site has a variety of heath, woodland and marsh habitats, and four of the woodland types are unusual in Britain. The woodlands have diverse bird species, and two unusual moths, the silver barred and rosy marbled, have been recorded on the common.[34]
The site is coppice woodland of medieval origin on chalky boulder clay. It has unusual woodland types, such as small-leaved lime and plateau alder. Other trees include sessile and peduculate oak, ash, maple and hornbeam, with occasional wild service tree.[35]
The site is mature coppice with a wide variety of trees. The main woodland type is hazel and sessile oak, which is rare nationally. The understorey is mainly coppiced hazel, and the ground flora is dominated by bramble and bracken.[36]
Canvey Wick has a nationally important population of invertebrates, including 22 on the IUCNRed List of Threatened Species, and three which had been recorded as extinct in Britain. It also has a nationally important population of shrill carder bees. Scrub edges provide additional habitats.[38]
The site is a marsh area between two arms of the River Stour. It is of major importance for breeding birds, especially waders and wildfowl, such as Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck and Water Rail. Other habitats are grassland and ditches.[42][43]
The ancient woodland is on acid silts and sands. Trees include, ash, lime birch and pedunculated oak. The ground layer is dominated by bramble, and other plants include primrose and wood anemone. The wood is divided by grassy rides, and there are over twenty ponds.[44]
This site dates to the warm Hoxnian Stage around 400,000 years ago. Flint tools found there have made it the type site for the Clactonian, a core-and-flake industry of homo erectus, although paleontologists disagree whether it is really a separate industry from the Acheulian.[46][47]
Fossils birds dating to the Lower Eocene, around 55 to 48 million years ago, have been found at this site, and it has yielded the type material of two species. Considerable quantities of fossil fishes have also been found, mainly sharks, and it is the type locality for several species.[50]
The site has varied habitats, such as saltmarsh, mud flats, shingle spits and former gravel pits. It is of international importance for wintering brent geese and black-tailed godwits, and of national importance for six other bird species, including little terns.[51]
The site is an ancient semi-natural wood in the valley of a small tributary of the River Roding. It is base-rich alder on the valley floor, and oak and hornbeam in other areas. The geology is complex, with areas of Claygate Beds and Bagshot Beds.[54]
The slow-moving Cornmill Stream and Old River Lea form a freshwater habitat with one of the most diverse invertebrate fauna in Essex. Eighteen species of dragonflies and damselflies have been recorded, including the uncommon and nationally declining white-legged damselfly.[55]
This is unimproved grassland and scrub with both damp and dry areas, with a number of uncommon species. Notable plant species in grassland areas include Orange Foxtail, Lesser Spearwort and Yellow Rattle.[62]
The common is one of the largest areas of heathland left in the county, and also has bracken and gorse scrub, and woodland with oak and birch. Upper parts are on glacial gravel, and lower down there is boggy heath. This is the main British site for the rosy marbled moth.[64]
The flood plain of the stream has tall fen vegetation, mainly common reed, while in some areas plants such as tussock sedge and lesser pond-sedge are locally dominant. Other habitats are neutral grassland, broad-leaved woodland and species-rich calcareous grassland.[66]
This is a large area of tidal mudflats and salt marshes. It has internationally important winter populations of brent geese and grey plovers, and nationally significant numbers of knots, dunlins and turnstones.[69]
The site comprises two separate areas, the larger Eastend Wood and the smaller Plegdon Wood. They are both ancient mixed woods on chalky boulder clay. There are also damp grass rides and ponds which provide additional habitats for invertebrates and birds.[71]
The site has ancient semi-natural woodland, grassland and wetland. The invertebrate fauna is described by Natural England as "of outstanding national significance", including 66 subcortical (under bark) and dead wood fauna on the IUCNRed List of Threatened Species.[72]
This coastland site is of international importance for nine species of wildfowl and waders, such as dark-bellied brent geese. Rare plants include soft hornwort and spiral tasselwood, and the site is also important for invertebrates, with 71 nationally rare species.[9]
The site is coppiced woodland, mostly ancient, on glacial silt, sands, gravels and clay soils. It contains some of the best lime woodland in the county. There are two ponds, which have the unusual water purslane.[80]
This site is unimproved grassland on gravel in it southern part and clay in the north. There is also an area of marsh. The plant community is diverse, with a number of uncommon species. Grasses include common bent, sweet vernal grass and crested dog's-tail.[81]
Thirteen species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded in these former gravel workings, including one which is rare in Britain, the ruddy darter dragonfly. Aquatic plants include the yellow water-lily and mare's tail.[82]
Natural England describes Globe Pit as "an important site for the interrelationship of archaeology with geology since it is vital in the correlation of the Lower Palaeolithic chronology with the Pleistocene Thames Terrace sequence". There are many Clactonian flint tools.[84]
This site provides the earliest evidence of an ancient course of the combined Thames and Medway rivers, which flowed north-east across eastern Essex in the late Anglian period around 400,000 years ago.[86]
This is a small remnant of the ancient Hadleigh Great Wood. It is coppiced oak woodland on sands, gravels and clay, and one of the largest areas of old woodland in the south of the county. Plants include the rare broad-leaved helleborine.[91]
The woods are ancient coppice wet ash and maple on chalky boulder clay. The shrub layer is diverse, with plants including the wayfaring-tree and the nationally uncommon oxlip. Seven species of orchid have been recorded in Shadwell Wood, which also has herb-rich grassy rides.[95]
The site exposes glacial gravels, silts and tills deposited during the Anglian ice age around 450,000 years ago. It is described by Natural England as "extremely important for the study of the Anglian glaciation and its associated deposits".[97]
The deneholes, which were created by medieval chalk mining, are the most important underground hibernation sites for bats in Essex, with three species; Brown long-eared bat, Natterer's bat and Daubenton's bat. The oak woodland is ancient, and it provides a feeding habitat for the bats.[11]
The reservoir has a nationally important population of gadwalls, and it also has significant numbers of pochards, teal, tufted ducks and pintails. The chalk sludge lagoon has several unusual plants, and there is a rare moss Brachythecium mildeanum at the foot of the southern dam.[105]
The woods are mainly pedunculate oak and hornbeam, and other trees include ash, hazel and birch. There are also some elms which are regenerating from coppice following Dutch elm disease.[106]
This site exposes bands of ash from explosive volcanoes in Scotland during the Eocene epoch around 50 million years ago. It also has many London Clay fossils from the Eocene rainforest, including mammals such as Hyracotherium, the earliest ancestor of the horse.[109]
This is the last Royal Forest to remain nearly intact. It has ancient coppice woodland, scrub, unimproved grassland, a large lake and extensive marshes. The woodland is mainly wet ash and maple. There are many rare plants and over sixty bird species.[112]
The site on boulder clay and loess has areas of wet ash and maple woodland, and others of pedunculate oak and hornbeam. Some areas are ancient woodland. There is a diverse layer of ground flora, and damp woodland rides provide additional habitat for birds and invertebrates.[113]
The woods are on pre-glacial gravels and clay, with trees including hornbeam, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, birch and hazel. Ground flora include three species of orchid, and there is a stream and area of bog.[115]
The creek's intertidal marshes and mudflats support nationally important (and occasionally internationally) numbers of wintering black-tailed godwits. Curlews and dunlins are also sometimes present in nationally significant numbers.[116]
This is the type site for the "Lower Holland Gravel", which was laid down by the River Thames before the river was diverted south during the Anglian glaciation around 450,000 years ago, and also for the "Upper Thames Gravel", which was deposited when the Thames was blocked by ice.[10]
Evidence has been found on this site of flint-knapping using the Levallois technique by Neanderthals 200,000 years ago, and it has even been possible to fit back together some of the flint flakes. Fossils have been found of mammals including, rhinoceros, bison, mammoth and straight-tusked elephant.[12]
The site is unimproved wet grassland and fen, which contains uncommon and declining swamp plant species. The site is also of interest for overwintering birds and aquatic insects, especially dragonflies.[126]
This site exposed a former channel of the River Thames during an interglacial period around 575,000 years ago. Many fossils were found, including rhinoceros and an extensive pollen record, allowing geologists to reconstruct the fauna and flora.[128]
Many fossils have been found dating to the last Ice Age, 110,000 to 12,000 years ago. Finds included reindeer, woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. The site is in the "Blackwater Terrace Gravel", dating to a time when the River Blackwater was a tributary of the Thames-Medway River.[130]
The site is a former railway cutting which is the type locality for the Maldon Till, which dates to the Pleistocene ice age. It was previously thought to represent a separate advance of the ice sheet, but in the light of later work it was concluded that it is an outlier of the till which covers much of central and northern Essex.[132]
This site has a record of pollen throughout the Hoxnianinterglacial around 400,000 years ago, and this is the best vegetational record for any British interglacial site. Seasonal layers in lake sediments have made it possible to estimate the duration of the Hoxnian.[134]
This is the type site for the Waltonian, the first British stage of the Pleistocene. It also has many plant and bird fossils dating to the Eocene, and it is described by Natural England as important in the study of avian evolution.[141]
This former quarry exposed the Kesgrave (Thames) Gravel, dating to the Cromerianinterglacial around 500,000 years ago. Higher layers displayed the transition from this warm period to the succeeding severe Anglian ice age.[143]
This is ancient oak woodland on acid soil which has been converted to mixed sweet chestnut coppice. There are sphagnum mosses in acidic flushes, and the rare water violet in one of the four ponds. There are nine species of dragonfly.[146] Archaeological features include a Bronze Agebowl barrow.[145]
The site is an ancient coppice wood on chalky boulder clay. It is mainly hornbeam with other trees such as pedunculate oak, ash and field maple. Flowers include the nationally uncommon oxlip, and one of the largest colonies of early purple orchids.[147]
The chalk pits expose sands and gravels which are associated with the ancient course of the River Thames.[150] The site has been occupied by early humans at several different periods,[151] and MIS9, between about 335,000 and 280,000 years ago, is often informally called the Purfleet interglacial.[152]
This site dates to the interglacial period, MIS7, around 200,000 years ago. It has yielded mollusc insect and mammal fossils, including the first jungle cat discovered in Britain.[153]
The site has ancient coppiced woods with a rich variety of fauna on different types of soil. It is mainly pedunculate oak/hornbeam woodland, with some areas having ash/maple, and others the rare birch/hazel variant. Plants in the understorey include wild daffodils and herb-paris.[154]
The site has varied ancient pedunculate oak and hazel in some areas and oak and hornbeam in others, as well as chestnut coppice. The soils are glacial gravels in the west and London Clay in the east. Flower include the rare orpine.[155]
The site is a stretch of the River Ter and its banks which is representative of a type of lowland stream on glacial till, with a low base flow but high flood peaks, and other features such as pool-riffle sequences and bank erosion.[157]
The meadows are bordered to the south west by the River Roding. They form one of the largest areas of grassland in Essex which are traditionally managed as hay meadows, flood meadows and marshland. Plants include the largest beds in Essex of the rare brown sedge.[160]
There are areas of woodland, grassland, fen, scrub and heath. The woodland, which is mainly ancient, has over a thousand species of moths and butterflies, and nearly seventy of breeding birds, including hawfinches, tree pipits and yellow wagtails.[161]
The site is almost the only survivor of the formerly extensive Dengie grazing marshes, and in the winter it supports a nationally important population of dark-bellied brent geese. Several ditches have meanders which survive from when they were salt-marsh creeks.[162]
The site has a succession of deposits which throw light of the diversion of the River Thames south to its present course during the Anglian Ice Age around 450,000 years ago, including fine gravel deposited during a brief period when the Thames was blocked by ice.[164]
The site is ancient coppiced woodland on the southern shore of Stour Estuary, and is the only area in the county where woodland and coastal habitats meet. The dominant tree is chestnut, with a ground layer of bramble. Other plants include yellow archangel and dog's mercury.[169]
The estuary is nationally important for thirteen species of wintering wildfowl and three on autumn passage, and also for coastal saltmarsh, sheltered muddy shores, two scarce marine invertebrates, rare plant assemblages and three geological sites.[175]
The site is semi-natural woodland and ancient parkland. It has a diverse population of beetles, including one which is rare and threatened in Britain. The parkland has old oak pollards on acid or neutral grassland.[176]
The site is an ancient semi-natural wood on acid soil. Wild service trees and elders are found in the shrub layer, and a pond has a raised sphagnum bog. Twenty species of butterfly have been recorded.[178]
The site is in two separate areas, and has a variety of grass and heath habitats. There is wet and dry heathland, both unusual in Essex, locally uncommon plants. Ponds which dry up in the summer provide an additional habitat.[179]
This is the largest surviving area of heathland in Essex, and has a number of plants rare in the county. It is dominated by heather and bent grass.[181] A small herd of Dexter cattle help to control the growth of invasive scrub.[180]
This site includes ten former gravel pits, which are of national importance for wintering gadwalls and shovelers. It is also valuable for invertebrates, especially grasshoppers and bush-crickets.[183]
The site has grazing marshes, salt tidal marshes, beaches, sea walls and intertidal mud. It has an important assemblage of nationally scarce plants and diverse ditch types. Insects include the nationally scarce Roesel's bush-cricket.[184]
The marshes are unimproved coastal grassland, dykes and creeks, with a wide variety of maritime herbs and grasses, some of them nationally rare. The site is the main British location for least lettuce. Insects with restricted distributions include the scarce emerald damselfly.[186]
The site is alder woodland on damp soils, with other trees including sycamore, ash and crack willow. The trees were planted around 1700 to provide charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder, and planting ceased at the time of the First World War.[187]
It has a variety of woodland types, reflecting diverse soils. It is mainly pedunculate oak over a layer of coppice hazel and sweet chestnut planted in the nineteenth century. There are two ponds and species-rich damp, grassy rides.[189]
The site is important for wintering waders and wildfowl which feed on the mudflats. Reed warblers and bearded tits breed on reed beds in the lagoon, and teals and grey herons roost on the shallow waters and grassy islands.[190]
The site is ancient woodland on chalky boulder clay and sandy loam. There is a rich variety of plants in wetter areas, such as oxlip and meadow-sweet.[192] There are many species of birds and butterflies, and four ponds which have great crested newts, dragonflies and damselflies.[191]
The site is the type locality for the Wivenhoe Gravel, which was laid down by the River Thames before it was diverted south to its present course by the Anglian glaciation around 450,000 years ago. The site is important for establishing the previous course of the Thames.[194]
The site is on glacial sand and gravel over London Clay. it has a number of areas of oak and hornbeam woodland on former heathland. It also has two botanically rich valleys, each of which has a stream along it.[196]
^ abThe area and grid reference are taken from the "Details" page for each site on the Natural England database.[8]
^The maps are provided by Natural England on the Magic Map website.
^Citations are provided for each site by Natural England.
References
^"East of England". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
^Yorke, B. A. E. (2014). "Essex". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 174–75. ISBN978-0-631-22492-1.
^"Essex". British Services. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
^ abc"Foulness citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
^ ab"Lion Pit citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
^"Ashdon Meadows citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
^"Basildon Meadows citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
^"Two Tree Island". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
^"Southend on Sea Foreshore". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
^"Abbotts Hall Farm". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
^ ab"Blackwater Estuary citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
^"Bullock Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
^ ab"About Canvey Wick". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^"Canvey Wick citation". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^"About Cattawade Marshes". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^"Cattawade Marshes citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
^"Cattawade Marshes". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
^"Chalkney Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
^Pettit, Paul; White, Mark (2012). The British Palaeolithic: Human Societies at the Edge of the Pleistocene World. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 172–92. ISBN978-0-415-67455-3.
^ abcd"Colne Estuary citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
^"Curtismill Green citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
^ ab"Danbury Common citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
^"Debden Water citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
^ ab"Dengie citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
^"Elsenham Woods citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ abc"Epping Forest citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
^"Epping Forest". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
^"Shoeburyness Old Ranges". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
^"Essex Estuaries". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
^"Garrold's Meadow citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
^"Glemsford Pits citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
^"Globe Pit citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
^"Hainault Forest citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^"Hall's Quarry citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
^ abc"Hamford Water citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
^"Hanningfield Reservoir"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
^"Hanningfield Reservoir citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ ab"Harlow Woods citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
^"Parndon Woods and Common". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
^"Hatfield Forest citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"High Wood, Dunmow citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"Hockley Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"Hockley Woods citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"Holehaven Creek citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^"Holland Haven". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
^"Holland Haven Marshes citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
^"Hunsdon Mead citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
^"Rainham Marshes". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
^"Marks Tey Brickpit citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
^"Mill Meadows". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
^"The Naze citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^"Newney Green Pit citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
^"Norsey Wood". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^"Norsey Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^"Nunn Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
^"Pitsea Marsh citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
^"Purfleet Chalk Pits citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
^Pettit, Paul; White, Mark (2012). The British Palaeolithic: Human Societies at the Edge of the Pleistocene World. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 106. ISBN978-0-415-67455-3.
^"Quendon Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
^"Riddles Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
^"River Ter citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
^"Roding Valley Meadows". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
^"Roman River citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
^"Sandbeach Meadows citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
^"St Osyth Pit citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
^"Copperas Wood". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
^ ab"Stour Estuary". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
^"Stour Estuary citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
^"Thorndon Park citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
^"Thrift Wood". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
^"Tiptree Heath citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^"Lee Valley". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
^"Upper Colne Marshes citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^"Vange Marsh". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^"Waltham Abbey citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^"Weeleyhall Wood". Essex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^"Weeleyhall Wood citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
