Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses
Straddling the English border, near Whitchurch in Shropshire and Wrexham in Wales, lies one of the biggest and best raised bogs in Britain. Its astonishingly varied wildlife makes it a place of international importance. Three ancient "bog bodies" have also been found here.
Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve has 18 species of bog moss, as well as many other characteristic bog plants, such as the insect-eating round-leaved sundew, and more uncommon plants, too, like bog asphodel, bog rosemary, lesser bladderwort, white-beaked sedge, and rare mosses. The landscape is also home to 29 species of dragonfly and damselfly, 670 different species of moth, adders and lizards, and 166 species of birds.
Three bodies were found in the bog between 1867 and 1889. These were dated to the Iron Age and early Bronze Age. The acidic water and the lack of oxygen resulted in their hair and skin being preserved, while their bones had dissolved. All three were re-buried in local churchyards.
Further reading
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