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Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR


Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve (NNR) which straddles the border between England and Wales, near Whixall and Ellesmere in Shropshire, England and Bettisfield in Wrexham County Borough, Wales.

It is managed by Natural England and Natural Resources Wales (replacing the former Countryside Council for Wales) and comprises three peat bogs, Bettisfield Moss, Fenn's Moss and Whixall Moss. Fenn's Moss is the source of the Wych Brook, a tributary of the River Dee. The River Roden, a tributary of the River Tern, also rises in the vicinity and forms part of the border of England and Wales near Wem Moss (see below). The Llangollen Canal runs near the southern edge of the reserve, where the never-completed Prees Branch branches off to terminate (in 1.5km) in the Prees Branch Canal Nature Reserve Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Part of the same geological Moss Complex, though separated by a strip of agricultural land, are Cadney Moss (now reclaimed for agriculture and forestry) in Wales and the adjacent Wem Moss NNR (in virtually pristine condition) in England. They are collectively a Site of Special Scientific Interest called The Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem & Cadney Moss Complex and form Britain’s third-largest lowland raised bog. The complex, at 948 hectares (2340 acres), is so big that it is visible from space. (Only Thorne and Hatfield Moors near Doncaster are bigger.)


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