Sunderland City Council

Sunderland City Council
Civic Centre
Burdon Road
Sunderland
SR2 7DN

Tel. (0191) 520 5555

Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes

Hylton Dene Local Nature Reserve

Go wild...Hylton Dene Local Nature Reserve

Hylton Dene was declared a Local Nature Reserve in August 2003. It includes Hylton Castle, the Main Dene, Tilesheds, Bunny Hill and Colliery Pond.

Hylton Castle was built in the early 15th Century to replace a wooden castle built in 1072. English heritage is the current owner of the Castle and the adjacent Chapel.

For further information on Hylton Castle you can visit their website
. http://www.hyltoncastle.com/

Hylton Dene LNR is a mixture of habitats, which are very valuable for wildlife. The habitats are meadows, woodlands and wetlands (stream, marsh areas and three ponds).

The main feature of the Dene is its mature woodlands dominated by ash, beech and sycamore with a shrub understorey and a diverse ground flora of ramsons, wood sorrel, bluebell and lesser celandine. Part of the woodland is designated Ancient Semi-Natural woodland.

The woodland is important for birds such as flycatcher, great-spotted woodpecker and tawny owl and a number of other protected species including pipistrelle bat which breed, roost and feed in the Dene.

The Dene also contains neutral grasslands which are full of wildflowers in spring and summer and a rich marsh area supporting common valerian, marsh pennywort, wild angelica, northern marsh orchid and giant horsetail.

At the western end of your reserve lies an area know as Tilesheds. This varied site comprises scrub with trees, wet meadows and dry grassland. During spring and summer wildflowers such as cowslip, marsh orchid, common spotted orchid, yellow rattle and fairy flax can be seen.

Part of Bunny Hill is a geological SSSI. A roadside rock exposure provides a good cross section of reef limestone belonging to the Late Permian Ford Formation reef complex (240 million years old).

This type of rock is know as Magnesian Limestone. The rest of Bunny Hill is managed as a meadow to help sustain Magnesian Limestone grassland plants such as quaking grass, cowslip and field scabious, and as a breeding site for small birds such as meadow pipit, skylark and linnet. The latter two species are Durham Biodiversity Action Plan (DBAP) priority species.

For more information on the

Durham Biodiversity Action Plan you can visit their website

The main access point is off Craigavon Road NZ357585 (follow brown heritage road signs for Hylton Castle). You can also access the Tilesheds (NZ350583 and Bunny Hill NZ358589. Car parking is available off Craigavon Road, next to the play area. Local buses from Sunderland stop on Craigavon Road, Hylton Castle.

For further information, please contact the Wildspace Volunteer Co-ordinator on (0191) 553 8774 or e-mail wildspace@sunderland.gov.uk

For information on the Castle or the Friends of Hylton Dene, log on to www.hyltoncastle.com or e-mail thefriends@hyltoncastle.com

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last updated 11/08/08

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Hylton Dene Local Nature Reserve