Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve

Recommended by

Overview

The Leigh Woods NNR is an outstanding mixture of ancient woodland and flower-rich limestone grassland, all set against the backdrop of Brunel’s famous suspension bridge at Clifton. The broad leafed woodland on the plateau above the famous Avon Gorge is probably the richest site in the world for whitebeam trees, and at least three species – the Bristol whitebeam, Leigh Woods whitebeam and Wilmott’s whitebeam – are found only here. The woods are also home to a variety of birds including the bullfinch, marsh tit and song thrush. Peregrine falcon and ravens breed on the limestone crags of the Avon Gorge, and the caves and veteran trees also provide valuable winter roosts for bats, including the rare greater and lesser horseshoe and Daubenton’s bats. Leigh Woods is a very rich site for invertebrates, including pauper pug and silky wave moths and the white letter hairstreak butterfly, in addition to many beetles, spiders and flies.

Location

Leigh Woods

About the area

Somerset remains rural and unspoiled, and ever popular areas to visit are the limestone and red sandstone Mendip Hills rising to over 1,000 feet, and by complete contrast, to the south and southwest, the flat landscape of the Somerset Levels. Another popular spot, the Quantocks, once the haunt of poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, are noted for their gentle slopes, heather-covered moorland expanses and red deer.