Goss Moor is a National Nature Reserve

National Nature Reserves in England

National Nature Reserves in England are managed by Natural England and are key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most important areas of habitat and of geological formations...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, located in the parishes of St. Dennis

St Dennis, Cornwall

St Dennis is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the B3279 between Newquay and St Austell.St Dennis had a population of 2,696 in the 2001 census. A quarter of the male population is employed in the extraction of china clay.The village is famous for...

, St. Columb Major, Roche

Roche, Cornwall

Roche is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village gets its name from a granite outcrop east of the village. Roche is the Norman-French word for Rock....

 and St. Enoder. It is the largest continuous mire complex in South-West Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 and consists of mainly Peatland and Lowland Heath

Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...

. Together with the neighbouring moor to the east, it forms the Goss And Tregoss Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 as well as Breney Common

Breney Common

Breney Common is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, noted for its biological interest, in central Cornwall, England, UK. It is located mainly in Lanlivery civil parish, with the Saints' Way footpath running through it....

 and Goss and Tregoss Moors Special Area of Conservation

Special Area of Conservation

A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...

.

Scarce or rare species

It is home to a number of scarce and rare species including:
plants : yellow centaury

Cicendia

Cicendia is a small genus of plants in the gentian family which contains only two species of tiny yellow annual wildflowers. Cicendia filiformis, the slender cicendia or yellow centaury, is native to Europe and naturalized in other places, such as Australia...

 (Cicendia filiformis), marsh clubmoss

Lycopodiopsida

Lycopodiopsida is a class of plants often loosely grouped as the fern allies. Traditionally the group included not only the clubmosses and firmosses, but also the spikemosses and the quillworts...

.
invertebrates : small red and variable damselfly

Damselfly

Damselflies are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest...

.
butterflies : Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue

The Silver-studded Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.-Appearance, behavior and distribution:So named due to the silvery blue metallic spots on the underside hind wings. The upperside are a rich, deep iridescent blue in the males with a black border and the characteristic Lycid white...

, Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary

The Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.It is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.E. aurinia is represented by many subspecies.The most widely accepted...

, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary , called the Silver-bordered Fritillary in North America, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family...

, Grizzled Skipper

Grizzled Skipper

The Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family.-Appearance, behaviour and distribution:With its characteristic chequered black and white pattern this butterfly is quite distinctive although old, faded individuals can be mistaken for the Dingy Skipper or the Sideridis...

moths: narrow-bordered bee hawk

Hemaris tityus

Hemaris tityus, the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, is one of two similar species of sphingid moth occurring in Britain that closely mimic a bumblebee. It has a wide range, from Ireland across temperate Europe to the Ural Mountains, western Siberia, Novosibirsk and the Altai...

 and double line

Mythimna turca

The Double Line is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is 37-45 mm. The moth flies from June to July depending on the location....

.

A 2003 study found 12 different Poor fen

Poor fen

A poor fen is a natural wetland habitat, consisting of dense low growth of small sedges and other plants...

 sub communities.

Geography

The River Fal

River Fal

The River Fal flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of...

 rises here and flows into the English Channel at Carrick Roads

Carrick Roads

Carrick Roads is located on the southern Cornish coast in the UK, near Falmouth. It is a large waterway created after the Ice age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to rise dramatically , creating a large natural harbour which is navigable from Falmouth to...

. The A30 road

A30 road

The 284 miles A30 road from London to Land's End, historically known as the Great South West Road used to provide the most direct route from London to the south west; more recently the M3 motorway and A303 road performs this function for much of the route and only parts of A30 now retain trunk...

 once ran through the middle of Goss Moor. This has been a major bottleneck in the county and has been subject to a long running campaign for expansion which has been strongly opposed. In late 2004 a decision was finally reached and the dual carriageway running around the moor was opened on 25 June 2007. Much of the existing road is now converted to a cycle lane which opened on 11 May 2008. The Atlantic Coast railway line

Atlantic Coast Line, Cornwall

The Atlantic Coast Line is a community railway line in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The line runs from the English Channel at Par, to the Atlantic Ocean at Newquay.-Route:The Atlantic Coast Line starts from Par station, in the village and port of Par...

 also crosses Goss Moor.

External links

• Goss Moor NNR (Natural England
  Natural England
  Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...
  
  ).
• Hydrology (University of Plymouth
  University of Plymouth
  Plymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
  
  ).