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The Great Britain Guide

Forests & woodlands · London

Holme Fen National Nature Reserve

Free admission

Holme Fen National Nature Reserve is a forest or woodland in the United Kingdom.

Holme Fen National Nature Reserve, forests & woodlands in Cambridgeshire

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–3 h
Nearest railway station
Orton Mere (NVR) · 9.1 km
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly

About

Holme Fen National Nature Reserve is a named forest, woodland or nature reserve in the United Kingdom. Coordinates: 52.4871°, -0.2208°.

Photo gallery

Protected designations

  • Site of Special Scientific Interest: Holme Fen SSSI
  • National Nature Reserve: HOLME FEN

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Holme Fen is a 269.4-hectare (666-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Holme in Huntingdonshire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Great Fen project, which aims to create a 3,700-hectare wetland wildlife area including Holme Fen, Woodwalton Fen and other areas. It is home to a variety of birds, including the Eurasian siskin, nightingale and lesser redpoll, and around 450 species of fungi. Holme Fen is described by Natural England as the finest example of birch woodland in lowland Britain. Part of it was a mere which was drained in the nineteenth century, and some relict wetland plants survive such as saw sedge and fen wood-rush. Two new lakes have been excavated. Holme Fen, specifically Holme Posts, is believed to be the lowest land point in the United Kingdom at 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) below sea level.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

On 22 November 1940, a Supermarine Spitfire, flown by Pilot Officer Harold Penketh, crashed into Holme Fen. In October 2015, archaeological work to recover the Second World War Spitfire was undertaken. Led by Oxford Archaeology East's project director Stephen Macauley, the teams located and recovered artefacts from the crash. A film of the excavation was shown at the Great Fen's Countryside Centre, Ramsey Heights on 27 September 2019.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
52.4871, -0.2208
County
Cambridgeshire
Parish
Holme
Postcode
PE7 3PP
Parliamentary constituency
North West Cambridgeshire
Nearest railway station
Orton Mere (NVR)9.1 km

Sources

Other places nearby

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Nearby

More forests in this region

Frequently asked questions

Where is Holme Fen National Nature Reserve?
Holme Fen National Nature Reserve is in Cambridgeshire, London, United Kingdom (postcode PE7 3PP), in the parish of Holme.
Is Holme Fen National Nature Reserve a protected site?
Yes — Holme Fen National Nature Reserve is part of the Holme Fen SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the HOLME FEN National Nature Reserve.
Is Holme Fen National Nature Reserve free to visit?
Yes, Holme Fen National Nature Reserve is free to enter.
How do I get to Holme Fen National Nature Reserve?
Drivers can navigate to postcode PE7 3PP. It sits within the North West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency.