Minsmere - Geography

Geography

Minsmere is in a low-lying area of the Suffolk coast approximately 24 miles (39 km) north-east of Ipswich. It is in the civil parishs of Westleton and Leiston with the parish border running along the Minsmere Old River. It borders the parish of Theberton at Eastbridge to the south-west and the parish of Dunwich to the north along the coast.

The landscape is largely flat along the line of the river. This is known as the Minsmere Level, an area of drained and re-flooded marshland with underlying alluvial geology. The area to the south of the Minsmere New Cut drainage ditch, built in 1812, is used a grazing marsh. To the north the wetland areas are flooded and managed as part of the RSPB's habitat management strategy for it's Minsmere reserve. This area includes drier areas of sandlings, including areas of mixed woodland rising up to 20 metres above sea level on sandy ridges.

The area provides a number of important habitats, including for species such as bitterns, marsh harriers, hen harriers, avocets and dartford warblers. The wetland areas include flooded lagoons and much of the area is designated as a Ramsar site. The grazing marshes to the south of the Minsmere Levels provide over-wintering grounds for a variety of different waterfowl species.

The coastline at Minsmere consists of a narrow shingle beach with some areas of sand dune with a shingle bank protecting the low lying coastal areas. This area is at risk of flooding from coastal surges although, unlike areas to the north and south, it does not suffer significantly from coastal erosion. To the north Minsmere Cliffs are found within Dunwich Heath, a National Trust property. The cliffs consist of loose, unconsolidated sand and shingle glacial deposits and suffer from coastal erosion.