Holme Fen

Holme Fen is a 269.4-hectare (666-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Holme in Huntingdonshire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Great Fen project, which aims to create a 3,700-hectare wetland wildlife area including Holme Fen, Woodwalton Fen, and other areas. It is home to a variety of birds, including the Eurasian siskin, nightingale, and lesser redpoll, and around 450 species of fungi. Holme Fen is described by Natural England as the finest example of birch woodland in lowland Britain. Part of it was a mere which was drained in the nineteenth century, and some relict wetland plants survive such as saw sedge and fen wood-rush. Two new lakes have been excavated. The site of the Holme Fen Posts is widely recognised as the lowest land point in the United Kingdom at 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) below sea level, following decades of peat shrinkage caused by agricultural drainage.