Kelling Heath

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title: "Kelling Heath" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sites-of-special-scientific-interest-in-norfolk", "villages-in-norfolk", "heaths-of-norfolk", "north-norfolk"] description: "UK Site of Special Scientific Interest" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelling_Heath" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary UK Site of Special Scientific Interest ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox SSSI"]

Field	Value
image	Path through Kelling Heath - geograph.org.uk - 1249409.jpg
name	Kelling Heath
aos	Norfolk
interest	Biological
gridref
area	89.4 ha
notifydate	1986
map	Magic Map
::

|image= Path through Kelling Heath - geograph.org.uk - 1249409.jpg |image_caption = |name= Kelling Heath |aos= Norfolk |interest=Biological |gridref= |area= 89.4 ha |notifydate= 1986 |map= Magic Map Kelling Heath is an 89.4 ha biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Holt and Weybourne in Norfolk, England. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Geology

Kelling Heath lies on the Cromer Ridge, a glacial moraine formed by retreating glaciers at the end of the last Ice age. Together with nearby Salthouse Heath, it is one of two distinct outwash plains dating from different halt stages of the same glaciation. Kelling Heath provides perhaps the best example of a glacial outwash plain in England. Both sites have steep ice-contact slopes and are dissected by deep dry valleys, and are geomorphological sites of national importance.

Natural history

The heath is described by Natural England as 'a fine example of oceanic heathland'. The vegetation is typical of dry, acid heath and is dominated by heather, bell heather, western gorse, gorse and bracken, with areas of mixed woodland. A wide variety of heathland birds nest on the site, including nightjar, whitethroat and tree pipit. The dry conditions are favourable to reptiles such as common lizard and adder.

The heath is bisected by the North Norfolk Railway, which has a Kelling Heath Halt. There is a Holiday Park adjoining the heath.

References

References

1. "Designated Sites View: Kelling Heath". Natural England.
2. "Map of Kelling Heath". Natural England.
3. "Norfolk Coast AONB Management Plan 2014-19: Other Conservation Designations within the AONB". Norfolk Coast AONB.
4. "Ice Age leaves legacy on the coast".
5. "Kelling Heath citation". Natural England.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::