Moorhouse and Cross Fell
| Moorhouse and Cross Fell | |
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 Summit of Cross Fell, with Great Dun Fell in the distance
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| Country | England |
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| Region | North East |
| District | Teesdale, Durham Eden, Cumbria |
| Location | NY715365 |
| - coordinates | 54°43′N 2°23′W / 54.717°N 2.383°WCoordinates: 54°43′N 2°23′W / 54.717°N 2.383°W |
| Area | 13,707 ha (33,871 acres) |
| Notification | 1951 / 1963 |
| Management | Natural England |
| Area of Search | County Durham |
| Interest | Biological Geological |
.png)  Location of Moorhouse and Cross Fell, Cumbria / Durham
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| Website: Map of site | |
Moorhouse and Cross Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering an extensive area of moorland in the Wear Valley district of west County Durham and the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is contiguous with Upper Teesdale SSSI to the east and Appleby Fells SSSI to the south. The area covered extends roughly from an arc through the villages of Gamblesby, Leadgate and Garrigill southward as far as Milburn in the west and Cow Green Reservoir in the east. It includes the whole of Cross Fell, the summit of which, at 893 metres asl, is the highest point in the Pennines and in England outside the Lake District.
The area is important for its wide variety of upland habitats, especially blanket bog, sub-montane and montane heath, montane bryophyte heath, limestone grassland and flushes, and for the fauna and flora that they support. The site also includes a number of localities of geological interest.
More than forty species of birds breed in the area, including several raptors—merlin, peregrine, common buzzard, common kestrel, short-eared owl—and waders—Eurasian golden plover, dunlin, common sandpiper, northern lapwing, Eurasian curlew, common redshank, and common snipe—whose survival is threatened; four (merlin, peregrine, golden plover and short-eared owl) are listed in Annex 1 of the European Commission's Birds Directive as requiring special protection and others (including lapwing and dunlin) are listed in the United Kingdom's Red Data Book (Birds).
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