Meres and Mosses


The Meres and Mosses are a natural area of England defined by Natural England and its predecessor bodies as statutory regulators for the natural environment of England. This region in the northwest part of the English Midlands coincides broadly with the Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire National Character Area 61.
A Ramsar site was designated in May 1994 covering 16 sites across this region, with a total area of 510.88 hectares, and known as the 'Midland Meres and Mosses Phase 1'. Over 60 individual water bodies or meres are recognised within the designation alongside a lesser number of peatland sites. Phase 2 of the Ramsar designation included Rostherne Mere on the northern margin of this area. A handful of similar meres and mosses are located close by in eastern Wales, notably in Welsh Maelor, within the modern borough of Wrexham.

Meres

The following list is based in part on information provided by researchers P.W. Beale and C.S. Reynolds, the latter having collected them into groups in the Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Woore, Delamere, Baschurch, Shrewsbury and Knutsford areas. Two further categories include those in the 'marginal belt of hummocky drift' in the east and those seen to sit in isolation.
NameArea GroupCounty
Blake Mere 8.4EllesmereShropshire
Ellesmere Mere46.1EllesmereShropshire
Kettle Mere1.7EllesmereShropshire
Newton Mere8.3EllesmereShropshire
White Mere25.5EllesmereShropshire
Cole Mere27.6EllesmereShropshire
Crose Mere15.2EllesmereShropshire
Sweat Mere0.2 approxEllesmereShropshire
Hardwick Pool3.6EllesmereShropshire
Peckforton Mere1.0WhitchurchCheshire
Chapel Mere6.5WhitchurchCheshire
Deer Park Mere9.4WhitchurchCheshire
Norbury Big Mere1.6WhitchurchCheshire
Norbury Little Mere1.5WhitchurchCheshire
Bar Mere9.7WhitchurchCheshire
Quoisley Big Mere4.0WhitchurchCheshire
Quoisley Little Mere2.2WhitchurchCheshire
Marbury Big Mere10.5WhitchurchCheshire
Marbury Little Mere1.3WhitchurchCheshire
Oss Mere9.5WhitchurchShropshire
Comber Mere51.5WhitchurchCheshire
Blake Mere nr Whitchurch3.7WhitchurchShropshire
Baddiley Mere6.7WhitchurchCheshire
Hanmer Mere17.7WhitchurchWrexham
Doddington Pool19.3WooreCheshire
Betley Mere9.3WooreStaffordshire
Hatch Mere4.7DelamereCheshire
Oak Mere18.3DelamereCheshire
Petty Pool11.7DelamereCheshire
Little Budworth Pool4.9DelamereCheshire
Berth Mere2.9BaschurchShropshire
Birchgrove Mere1.7BaschurchShropshire
Fenemere9.4BaschurchShropshire
Marton Pool (Baschurch)6.8BaschurchShropshire
Cottage Pool1.8ShrewsburyShropshire
Isle Pool5.8ShrewsburyShropshire
Oxon Pool1.4ShrewsburyShropshire
Alkmond Park Pool4.4ShrewsburyShropshire
Hencott Pool3.5ShrewsburyShropshire
Bomere Pool10.3ShrewsburyShropshire
Shomere1.3ShrewsburyShropshire
Betton Pool6.4ShrewsburyShropshire
Top Pool1.8ShrewsburyShropshire
Berrington Pool2.5ShrewsburyShropshire
Budworth Mere39.4KnutsfordCheshire
Pick Mere17.5KnutsfordCheshire
Tabley Mere19.4KnutsfordCheshire
Mere Mere15.8KnutsfordCheshire
Rostherne Mere48.7KnutsfordCheshire
Tatton Mere31.7KnutsfordCheshire
Booth's Mere6.4KnutsfordCheshire
Radnor Mere8.3MarginalCheshire
Redes Mere17.0MarginalCheshire
Taxmere1.2MarginalCheshire
Rode Pool12.7MarginalCheshire
Lawton Mere1.3MarginalCheshire
Alsager Mere3.5MarginalCheshire
Maer Pool5.5isolatedStaffordshire
Cop Mere16.8isolatedStaffordshire
Aqualate Mere72.5isolatedStaffordshire
Marton Pool, nr Chirbury13.7isolatedShropshire
Llynclys Pool2.8isolatedShropshire
Padeswood Pool1.0 approxisolatedFlintshire