Steart Peninsula

The peninsula consists largely of low-lying flat farmland, and projects northwards on the west side of Stockland Reach, the lower stretches of the estuary of the River Parrett.

The reserve includes the largest area of salt marsh in Somerset, and large expanses of mudflats exposed at low tide, important feeding and roosting sites for waterfowl and wading birds.

The reserve is the result of a flood management project, which involved a breach in the sea wall to permit seawater to enter the salt marsh from the tidal River Parrett.

By 1997, a combination of coastal erosion, current sea level rise and wave action had made some of the defences distinctly fragile and at risk from failure.

As a result in 2002 The Environment Agency produced the Stolford to Combwich Coastal Defence Strategy Study to examine options for the future.