Staveley Nature Reserve

Staveley Nature Reserve Credit Paul Fox
Otter

(c) Amy Lewis

Staveley in winter
Grasshopper warbler credit Amy Lewis

Grasshopper Warbler (c) Amy Lewis

Staveley is a superb wetland reserve with something for everyone, from experienced birdwatchers to people who just fancy a leisurely stroll on its network of paths.

Location

Minskip Road
Boroughbridge
HG5 9LQ

OS Map Reference

SE 36991 63039
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A static map of Staveley Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
79 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Car park just outside Staveley village on Minskip Road, holding 12 cars. Please park considerately and safely.

Bicycle parking

No cycling is allowed on site, but bike racks are present at the car park for your use.

Grazing animals

Hebridean sheep and Highland cattle graze the land throughout the year.

Walking trails

There is a large network of surfaced and unsurfaced public and permissive footpaths. Public footpaths cross the site from Staveley Main Street next to the pub and from the Minskip road.

Access

The reserve has good accessibility for wheelchairs and buggies. Disabled parking is available off Main Street, up the track by the village church, and you can access this with a Radar key.

If you park in the car park or elsewhere, please do so considerately and safely and with respect to local residents and other road users. 

Dogs

On a lead

Please respect the grazing animals.

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Facilities

Bird hides
Disabled parking
Accessible trails

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times. We recommend a full day outing for this reserve – and if you’re in the area for longer, why not visit Bishop Monkton Railway Cutting, Burton Leonard Lime Quarries and Ripon City Wetlands?

Best time to visit

June to September

About the reserve

A year-round wild refuge with an industrial past, Staveley offers wildlife a large space and variety of habitats to move around. With accessible paths and five bird hides – three fully accessible – there are lots of great opportunities to absorb yourself in nature and wonder at the incredible number of birds that it plays host to, including enormous numbers of geese and lapwings. It’s easy to get to – just ten minutes’ drive from the A1M.

Staveley is a great place for seeing otters, sometimes in the middle of the day. You might also see roe deer, foxes and, if you sit very still in a quiet spot, you might glimpse two much smaller mammals – the water shrew and harvest mouse – particularly around dusk and dawn.

Common breeding birds include several warbler species, with common terns on the rafts created for them and barn owls in nest boxes. Little ringed plovers, avocets and oystercatchers sometimes breed, while in winter the lagoons are home to pintails, wigeons, goldeneyes, snipe and shovelers. Rarer visitors include bitterns.

Contact us

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01904 659570
Contact email: info@ywt.org.uk
View of the lake at Staveley nature reserve

Will you donate today?

Staveley nature reserve is a pristine wetland oasis. Will you help us to protect it for future generations?
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About

Staveley Nature Reserve, part of a larger area known as Staveley Carrs, has been renowned for rare plants for centuries. Today, this large, accessible site has been sculpted through quarrying activities followed by decades of work by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and dedicated volunteers.

The site is in two parts: the East Lagoon edged with vegetation that was allowed to develop naturally post quarrying, comprising fen, reed swamp, scrub and flower-rich grassland; and the West Lagoons, which was landscaped and returned to agricultural usage after quarrying, with arable and intensively grazed areas. This part of the site has seen much activity to create more interesting wildlife habitats, since the Trust’s purchase of the land in 2010. 

An 11 hectare hay meadow has been created on a former arable field, islands, nesting platforms and a sand martin wall have been built around the lake, and ponds and scrapes put in to increase the area of wetland habitat. The nature reserve is bordered by the River Tutt on its northern boundary and there are footpaths and hides from which to observe the varied wildlife.

Small areas of fen are home to several relic species which were once widespread before the carrs were drained and transformed into farmland. Locally scarce species such as water violet, marsh helleborine and meadow rue can be found.

Common breeding birds include summer visitors such as sand martin and several species of warbler, with common tern breeding on the rafts put out for them and barn owls in nest boxes. Wading birds such as little ringed plover and oystercatcher sometimes breed on the exposed bare ground and islands of West Lagoon. Red kites and buzzards are regular visitors. There have been 22 species of damselflies and dragonflies recorded in the main lagoons, small ponds and ditches. 

Mammals are well represented with roe deer and fox amongst the larger species and water shrew and harvest mouse amongst the smaller species. Otters are seen regularly, quite often in the middle of the day on both lagoons.

Management of the nature reserve is designed to maintain the site’s diverse habitats with rotational reedbed management, scrub clearance and coppicing, cutting and raking of grassland, traditional haymaking and grazing with the Trust’s Highland cattle, and Hebridean sheep, amongst other activities.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring: Inverterbrates - Orange-tip; Large red damsefly; Birds - Commen tern; Sand martin Mammals - Otter
  • Summer: Plants - Marsh helleborine; Common spotted orchid; Bee orchid; Invertebrates - Peacock butterfly; Birds - Barl owl
  • Autumn: Birds - Teal; Shoveler; Greenshank; Inverterbrates - Migrant Hawker
  • Winter: Birds - Red kite; Tufted duck; Reed bunting; Tree sparrow

Directions

Public transport
Bus routes pass through Staveley village.

By car
On the northern outskirts of Staveley, 2.5 miles south west of Boroughbridge. Car park just out of the village on the Minskip road and also disabled access via radar key from the track next to the church on Main Street. Public footpaths cross the site from Staveley Main Street next to the pub and from the Minskip road.

Starling murmuration in the shape of a tadpole

Tadpole-shaped murmuration at Potteric Carr (C) Rod Jones

Magical Wildlife Moment...

Overlooking the hay meadow and east lagoon as an incredible starling murmuration blackens the sky and suddenly pours down into the reedbed.Â