“ A wonderfully lonely and isolated spot with an aura of timelessness.”

For some, the immediate appeal of Simpson’s Saltings is its openness and wide views of the Ore estuary. It is also one of the county’s most important coastal sites for its wealth of uncommon coastal and saltmarsh plants. (For this reason the Saltings can only be viewed from the sea wall.)

These plants grow amongst a mosaic of habitats including compacted sand, shingle, saltmarsh, inter-tidal mud and estuary creeks. Sea campion, thrift and bird’s-foot trefoil flourish here alongside many rarer plants such as sea kale, sea pea and sea heath. Rare and fragile lichens too, have developed in the absence of trampling feet.

Inter-tidal mud provides rich pickings for wading birds, while areas of sand and shingle make ideal nesting sites for ringed plover and oystercatcher. Little and common tern are a regular sight and during the autumn and winter migrations, wheatear and flocks of meadow pipit swell the numbers.

Cushions of thrift form on the saltmarsh

The reserve was generously purchased for Suffolk Wildlife Trust by Francis Simpson – a well known Suffolk botanist – with additional support from English Nature.

Other Trust reserves nearby: Sutton & Hollesley Commons

Oystercatcher probe the mud for juicy morsels and prize shellfish open with their chisel-like beaks

STAR SPECIES
Sea heath
Sea pea