Astley and Bedford Mosses

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Looking west across fields on Astley Moss
Location within Greater Manchester
Location	Greater Manchester
Grid reference	SJ 691 975
Coordinates	53°28′22″N 2°27′02″W / 53.4729°N 2.4506°W / 53.4729; -2.4506
Interest	Biological
Area	228 acres (92 ha; 0.36 sq mi)[1]
Notification	1989

Astley and Bedford Mosses are areas of peat bog south of the Bridgewater Canal and north of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. They are situated about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) south-east of Leigh, in Astley and Bedford, Greater Manchester, England. They are among the last remaining fragments of Chat Moss, the raised bog that once covered a large area, of around 10+2⁄3 square miles (28 km²), south Lancashire north of the River Mersey. Astley Moss was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989.^[2] Astley and Bedford Mosses, along with Risley Moss and Holcroft Moss, are part of Manchester Mosses, a European Union designated Special Area of Conservation.^[3]

Ecology

Chat Moss, a lowland raised bog, formed after the last ice age about 10,000 years ago on the site of a shallow glacial lake to the north of the River Mersey. Fen peat formed in an area colonised by reeds and rushes. Sphagnum mosses then colonised the area causing a change from fen to bog peat which became elevated forming a dome, the raised bog. Sphagnum mosses increase the acidity of the water resulting in highly specialised plant species, many of them found nowhere else.^[4] The site is also important for bird species such as the merlin, hen harrier and short-eared owl.^[5]