# River Mease SSSI > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/River_Mease_SSSI > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/River_Mease_SSSI.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Mease_SSSI > Source revision: 947087690 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) River Mease Site of Special Scientific Interest Location of River Mease. Location Leicestershire Staffordshire Grid reference SK 264 119[1] Interest Biological Area 23.0 hectares (57 acres)[1] Notification 2000[1] Location map Magic Map **River Mease SSSI** is a 23.0 hectares (57 acres) biological [Site of Special Scientific Interest](/source/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest). It is a stretch of the [River Mease](/source/River_Mease) and its tributary Gilwiskaw Brook, running between [Alrewas](/source/Alrewas) in [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire) and [Packington](/source/Packington) in [Leicestershire](/source/Leicestershire).[1][2] It is also a [Special Area of Conservation](/source/Special_Area_of_Conservation)[3] The river goes through private land, but it is crossed by roads and footpaths. The River Mease rises near the village of [Norton Juxta Twycross](/source/Norton_Juxta_Twycross) in [North West Leicestershire](/source/North_West_Leicestershire). It flows westwards for approximately 16 miles (25 km), largely through agricultural land, to its confluence with the [River Trent](/source/River_Trent) at [Croxall](/source/Croxall) in [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire).[4] The SSSI includes a range of habitats including riffles, pools, slacks, vegetated margins and variable amounts of bankside tree cover. The site also includes part of the fast-flowing Gilwiskaw Brook.[5] The river has nationally significant populations of two species of freshwater fish, the [spined loach](/source/Spined_loach) and the [bullhead](/source/European_bullhead). Vegetation is sparse in the upper reaches as the stream is fast-flowing, but there are stands of floating sweet-grass, and the gravel areas provide favourable conditions for the bullhead to spawn. The freshwater white-clawed crayfish [Austropotamobius pallipes](/source/Austropotamobius_pallipes) is also found in the river as is the [otter](/source/Eurasian_otter), both having a restricted range in the East Midlands.[5] Aquatic flora is more varied in the lower reaches, where the river flows slowly across a flood plain. Here the marginal vegetation includes [common club-rush](/source/Schoenoplectus_lacustris), [floating sweet-grass](/source/Glyceria_fluitans), [reed canary-grass](/source/Phalaris_arundinacea), [branched bur-reed](/source/Sparganium_erectum), [greater pond sedge](/source/Carex_riparia) and [bulrush](/source/Typha_latifolia). Submerged aquatic vegetation includes [river water-crowfoot](/source/Ranunculus_fluitans), [common water-crowfoot](/source/Ranunculus_aquatilis), [blunt-leaved pondweed](/source/Potamogeton_obtusifolius), [fennel pondweed](/source/Stuckenia_pectinata), [arrowhead](/source/Sagittaria_sagittifolia) and [yellow water-lily](/source/Nuphar_lutea).[5] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dsv_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dsv_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-dsv_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-dsv_1-3) ["Designated Sites View: River Mease"](https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S2000416&SiteName=mease&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 14 November 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-map_2-0)** ["Map of River Mease"](http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000416%27). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 14 November 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Designated Sites View: River Mease"](https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK0030258&SiteName=mease&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=). Special Area of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 8 August 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-CEHmap_4-0)** ["National River Flow Archive - Map"](http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/data/search_region_midlands.html). Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Retrieved 7 May 2014. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SSSI_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SSSI_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-SSSI_5-2) ["River Mease citation"](https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/2000416.pdf) (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 24 March 2020. Wikimedia Commons has media related to [River Mease SSSI](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:River_Mease_SSSI). [52°42′14″N 1°35′31″W / 52.704°N 1.592°W / 52.704; -1.592](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=River_Mease_SSSI¶ms=52.704_N_1.592_W_type:landmark_region:GB-BNE) v t e Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire Biological Allexton Wood Ashby Canal Bardon Hill Barrow Gravel Pits Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods Benscliffe Wood Blackbrook Reservoir Botcheston Bog Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry Breedon Hill Briery Wood Heronry, Belvoir Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir Burbage Wood and Aston Firs Cave's Inn Pits Charnwood Lodge Chater Valley Coalville Meadows Cotes Grassland Cribb's Lodge Meadows Croft Hill Croft Pasture Croxton Park Debdale Meadow, Muston Dimminsdale Donington Park Eye Brook Reservoir Eye Brook Valley Woods Frisby Marsh Grace Dieu and High Sharpley Grantham Canal Great Bowden Borrowpit Groby Pool and Woods Harby Hill Wood Holly Rock Fields Holwell Mouth Kendall's Meadow Kilby - Foxton Canal King Lud's Entrenchments and The Drift Launde Big Wood Leighfield Forest Lockington Marshes Loughborough Meadows Lount Meadows Misterton Marshes Muston Meadows Narborough Bog Newton Burgoland Marshes Oakley Wood Owston Woods Pasture and Asplin Woods River Eye River Mease Roecliffe Manor Lawns Saddington Reservoir Sheepy Fields Sheet Hedges Wood Stanford Park Stonesby Quarry Swithland Wood and The Brand Terrace Hills Pasture Twenty Acre Piece Ulverscroft Valley Wymondham Rough Geological Bardon Hill Quarry Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir Charnwood Lodge Cliffe Hill Quarry Croft and Huncote Quarry Dimminsdale Enderby Warren Quarry Gipsy Lane Pit Grace Dieu and High Sharpley Ives Head Main Quarry, Mountsorrel Newhurst Quarry One Barrow Plantation Shepshed Cutting Sproxton Quarry Tilton Cutting --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [River Mease SSSI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Mease_SSSI) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Mease_SSSI?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.