Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve

Our View

At 11 square miles, the Humberhead Peatlands NNR represents the largest area of raised bog wilderness in lowland Britain. It is dissected by the M18 and comprises Thorne, Goole, Crowle and Hatfield Moors. The moors are remnants of wetland that occupied the floodplain of the Humberhead Levels at the end of the Ice Age, and represent one of the country’s rarest and most threatened habitats. A wide range of habitats supports the 5,000 species of plants and animals which have been recorded on the reserve, of which more than 4,000 are insects and include at least six species found nowhere else in Britain. There is also a sizable population of adders on the Moors, and the nocturnal, insect-eating nightjar also breeds here. More than 200 bird species have been recorded and about 75 have bred. Winter visitors include whooper swans, pink-footed geese and short-eared owls. From March-July a very special summer visitor is the diminutive woodlark and oystercatcher, lapwing, ringed plover and great crested grebe can be spotted around the lakes.