Arlington Reservoir is a 99.4 (245.6 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Arlington, East Sussex. The site was notified in 1985 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The site is also of ornithological interest, with over 1% of the wintering wigeon being populated within the site. Alder Alnus glutinosa and willow Salix species are part of the open water. The site is also home to a scrub of Crataegus monogyna. A large jetty juts into the water and a few hundred yards away there is a water treatment building. The reservoir was originally created by damming the River Cuckmere, which previously meandered to the middle of the present-day reservoir. The Cuckmere is now channelled in a straight line just to the east.
Local wildlife
At the northwest banks of the reservoir is the Osprey Birdhide, and this is the best place to see the population of cormorants which regularly come to sit on the Banks and trees surrounding water. Other species include great crested grebe, swallow, mallard, pied wagtail, coot, Canada goose, rook, and sheep graze in the surrounding water meadows. Black swans, presumably escapes from captivity, can often be seen on the water.
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