Ellerburn Bank Nature Reserve

The history of Ellerburn Bank is thought to date back to the Bronze Age due to a double bank and ditch thought to have been part of the land boundary system at this time. The reserve is owned by Forest Enterprise and Thornton Dale Estate and leased to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Ellerburn Bank, although a small reserve, is used by a great variety of mammals, herptiles, birds and insects who make use of the grassland and woodland margin. Within the tract of North Yorkshire’s Dalby Forest, the ground slopes eastwards toward the Dalby Beck. This aids in draining the land, creating a dry, warm habitat. The reserve lies on limestone rock on which plants known as calcicoles, which are only found on base rich soils, grow. Calcicoles found at Ellerburn Bank include quaking grass, cowslip in spring, common rock-rose in summer and felwort in autumn. There are however many more plant species, making this a fantastic site for practicing your botany identification skills! Hares, badgers and deer are among the animal visitors to this reserve from the nearby woodland. Adders are also regularly seen here, particularly along the dry-stone wall that runs parallel to the northern boundary fence. Insects include a small number of breeding butterflies such as the small copper and small skipper; day-flying moths include the six-spot burnet and burnet companion. The graceful skylark and long-tailed tits are regularly visit the reserve, as well as chaffinches amongst the shrubs.

Selective removal of bushes occurs from time to time to ensure they do not overgrow, although the majority is kept as it provides a god habitat for bird and insect species. The grassland is grazed between September and December by sheep, and are helped along by rabbits whose population has grown in recent years! Conservation grazing is less intensive than that for commercial gain, and develops an improved sward for invertebrates, small mammals and birds. It does this by removing the more competitive plant species, allowing those less competitive to establish.

Directions

Ellerburn Bank is situated on Pexton Moor, at the south-west corner of Dalby Forest, one-and-a-half miles north of Thornton-le-dale. For access from Thornton-le-dale take the Whitby road for one-and-a-half miles and turn right onto the Dalby Forest Drive (a private road owned by Forest Enterprise where a small charge may be made in season). The reserve may be approached (on foot only) along either of two forest tracks which lead from smal parking areas at a quarter-of-a-mile (prior to the toll) and half-a-mile (picnic area) distances along the Forest Drive.