Farleton Knott
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| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
  Location within Cumbria | |
| Location | Cumbria |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SD545800 |
| Coordinates | 54°12′49″N 2°41′57″W / 54.213701°N 2.6991933°W |
| Area | 702 acres (2.8 km2; 1.1 sq mi) |
| Notification | 1988 |
Farleton Knott is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)[1][2] in Cumbria, England. It is located 6km west of Kirkby Lonsdale, near Farleton. This protected area includes an exceptional limestone pavement on the top of a hill called Farleton Fell. Farleton Knott SSSI includes within its boundary Newbiggin Crags, Holme Park Fell and a National Nature Reserve called Clawthorpe Fell (Clawthorpe Fell is an island of limestone pavement within a quarry called Holme Park Quarry).[3][4]
Farleton Knott is a hill composed of carboniferous limestone where there is a limestone pavement. There are a range of habitats including open pavement, and pavement covered in scrub or woodland, calcareous grassland and limestone scree slopes. Herb species in this protected area include the orchid dark-red helleborine as well as bloody crane's-bill. Fern species include limestone fern, holly fern, rigid buckler-fern, maidenhair spleenwort, hart's-tongue fern and wall-rue. In calcareous grassland, herb species include thyme, dropwort, limestone bedstraw and squinancywort.[1]
Scrub and tree cover is rather sparse at Farleton Knott SSSI because of grazing pressure, but ash, sycamore, hazel and hawthorn are frequent. Yew and juniper are also present.[1]