NORTHUMBERLAND WILDLIFE TRUST
Nearest Town: Brampton
OS Map: NY673763 (OS 50 000 Sheet 86)
This 409ha SAC, Ramsar and SSSI site represents the transition between hummock-hollow mire and true patterned mire.
Location and access: 21km north east of Brampton, on the Cumbria-Northumberland border. Access is via the minor road from Gilsland and Butterburn to Churnsike Lodge. Please note that there are no facilities on this site and no official paths or on-site information. WARNING - Rivers in the area rise rapidly in heavy rain.
Butterburn Flow represents the transition between hummock-hollow mire and true patterned mire. There are only 3 such sites in the country and this is the healthiest example. The Flow contains large intact areas dominated by bog mosses including Sphagnum magellanicum, Sphagnum papillosum, cross-leaved heath and cranberry. The hydrological unit extends down to the River Irthing and the marginal bands of grass and rush dominated vegetation on the more mineral soils help to protect the finely balanced hydrology of the site. Other local and rare plant species include greater sundrew, tall bog sedge, few-flowered sedge, Sphagnum pulchrum, Sphagnum imbricatum, bog rosemary and cloudberry. Several species of wader, including dunlin, breed at the site.