List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater Manchester

Huddersfield Narrow Canal close to Stalybridge.

This is a list of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. In England the body responsible for designating SSSIs is Natural England, which chooses a site because of its fauna, flora, geological or physiographical features. As of 2006, there are 21 sites designated within this Area of Search, of which 14 have been designated due to their biological interest, 5 due to their geological interest, and 2 for both biological and geological interest.

Natural England took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from English Nature in October 2006 when it was formed from the amalgamation of English Nature, parts of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service. Natural England, like its predecessor, uses the 1974-1996 county system and as such the same approach is followed here, rather than splitting these sites between the Lancashire and Cheshire lists. The data in the table is taken from English Nature's website in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI.

For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.

Sites

Site name	Reason for Designation		Area		Grid reference	Year in which notified	Map
	Biological Interest	Geological Interest	Hectares	Acres
Abram Flashes	Y		39.6	98.0	SD610003	1990	[1]
Ashclough		Y	5.8	14.3	SD763063 & SD757063	1988	[2]
Astley & Bedford Mosses	Y		92.2	227.8	SJ692975	1989	[3]
Brookheys Covert	Y		2.4	5.8	SJ742904	1977	[4]
Bryn Marsh & Ince Moss	Y		68.3	168.8	SD585025 & SD595025	1989	[5]
Compstall Nature Reserve	Y		12.8	31.6	SJ976917	1977	[6]
Cotteril Clough	Y		10.3	25.5	SJ805839	1951	[7]
Dark Peak	Y	Y	31,852.9	78,708.4	SK110960	1951	[8]
Dunham Park	Y		78.0	192.7	SJ740870	1965	[9]
Gale Clough And Shooterslee Wood	Y		8.6	21.2	SD702141	1979	[10]
Highfield Moss	Y		21.3	52.6	SJ614956	1986	[11]
Hollinwood Branch Canal	Y		3.3	8.2	SJ910993–SJ920004	1986	[12]
Huddersfield Narrow Canal	Y		18.4	45.5	SJ936986–SD981033	1988	[13]
Ladcastle and Den Quarries		Y	2.5	6.2	SD995060	1984	[14]
Lowside Brickworks		Y	1.4	3.5	SD941041	1989	[15]
Ludworth Intake		Y	5.1	12.7	SJ994911	1998	[16]
Nob End	Y		8.8	21.7	SD749063	1988	[17]
Red Moss	Y		47.2	116.6	SD635104	1995	[18]
Rochdale Canal	Y		25.6	63.1	SD937161–SD891009	2000	[19]
South Pennine Moors	Y	Y	20,938.1	51,739.0	SD920300	1994	[20]
Tonge River Section		Y	0.7	1.8	SD726095	1987	[21]

Notes

^A Data rounded to one decimal place.

^B Grid reference is based on the British national grid reference system, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the Ordnance Survey.

^C Link to maps using the Nature on the Map service provided by Natural England.

^D The Dark Peak site extends into three other counties and so can be found on lists of SSSIs in Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

^E The Gale Clough and Shooterslee Wood site extends into the county of Lancashire and so can be found on the list of SSSIs in Lancashire.