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The Great Britain Guide

Wildlife reserves · South West England

Maer Lake

Cornwall Wildlife TrustFree admission♿ Wheelchair: limited

Maer Lake — nature reserve in Cornwall, UK.

Sandbag wall, Flexbury - geograph.org.uk - 1345221

Humphrey Bolton — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
2 h–4 h
Best time of year
Autumn & winter (migration & wildfowl)
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly
  • Limited wheelchair access
Visit on cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk

About

Maer Lake is a wildlife reserve in the United Kingdom. Managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Wikidata describes it as: "nature reserve in Cornwall, UK". Coordinates: 50.8392°, -4.5464°.

Photo gallery

Protected designations

  • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Cornwall

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Maer Lake is a nature reserve adjacent to Bude, in Cornwall, England. It is a wetland meadow with open water, and is an important site for over-wintering birds.

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

Background

Description

The earliest mention of the lake is in 1284, as "La Mare", and in the post-medieval period it was an area of wet grazing shared by local farmers. In 1993 the site was jointly purchased by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society, and it is managed by the two organisations. The area of the site is 8.9 ha. It is a freshwater wetland, and a wetland meadow for grazing animals; it is an important as a passage site and as an over-wintering site for waders and wildfowl. A sluice was constructed so that there would be permanent shallow flooding of the site; 1 to may lie under water. The permanent shallow water has created a thick silt which is beneficial…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
50.8392, -4.5464
District
Cornwall
Parish
Bude-Stratton
Postcode
EX23 8PE
Parliamentary constituency
North Cornwall
Opening
| website = {{url|https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/maer-lake}}

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Maer Lake?
Maer Lake is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode EX23 8PE), in the parish of Bude-Stratton.
Who owns Maer Lake?
Maer Lake is owned by Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society and operated by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Is Maer Lake a protected site?
Yes — Maer Lake is part of the Cornwall National Landscape (AONB).
Is Maer Lake free to visit?
Yes, Maer Lake is free to enter.
How do I get to Maer Lake?
Drivers can navigate to postcode EX23 8PE. It sits within the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency.
Are dogs allowed at Maer Lake?
Most wildlife reserves allow dogs on lead only, with restrictions during ground-nesting bird season (March-July). Check signage at the reserve.