Steart Marshes is located on the Steart Peninsula where the river Parrett meets the Bristol Channel and some of our Cattle will graze right out on that point. The Steart peninsula has seen many changes in its time, been claimed by the sea and reclaimed time and time again. It has seen people always passing through and making the peninsula their home. Gone are the many tiny fishing and farming families that used to call this place their home. Economies of scale and the allure of people setting up their home of the countryside.
Driving to Steart has been described as driving to the end of the world. Driving down the single track lane, passing the odd house and farm as you go, with fields filled with water in the winter, you may just feel like you’re about to drop of the edge of the world.
The mud flats that stretch out when you arrive at Steart Gate are some of the most important in the world. It’s a RAMSAR site, meaning wetlands that are of international importance which have been designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for containing representative, rare or unique wetland types or for their importance in conserving biological diversity. You can read more on RAMSAR Sites here.
Steart is also a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Each SSSI is legally protected. They are selected because each of them contain special features such as threatened habitats, characteristics, rare and endangered species or important geology.