Parish News Online

Castor Hanglands

Close to the village of Ufford is a National Nature Reserve called Castor Hanglands.

Castor Hanglands

(Photo: Southern entrance to Castor Hanglands NNR, (Terry McKenna) / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Castor Hanglands covers 90 hectares and has four distinct habitats: wetland, grassland, woodland and scrubland.

The wetland areas contain ditches and ponds and support a variety of aquatic life including the great crested newt.

Pockets of limestone grassland support plants such ad orchids and purple-milk vetch. The drier grassland areas contain herbs such as crosswort and tormentil, whilst the wetter areas include marsh orchid, marsh valerian and marsh marigold.

The woodlands are made up mainly of oak, hazel, maple and ash trees: ideal habitat for treecreepers, nuthatch and the tawny owl.

The scrubland areas are mainly made up of blackthorn and hawthorn, privet and gorse, all of which support birds such as blackcaps, nightingales and whitethroats.