Brada Hill

Also within

Northumberland County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Volcanic / Igneous

Description

Area,1,10 0002.4 hectares 5.9 ac Description Brada Hill is one of a series of outcrops of the whin Sill in the Bamburgh region of Northumberland. The principal area of interest is a low, south facing escarpment with shallow drought prone soils, which carry a flora typical of such sites which is unique in Northumberland. There are large populations of wild onion Allium vineale particularly in a narrow strip of short turf of red fescue Festuca rubra, crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha and early hair grass Aira praecox along the escarpment crest. Maiden pink Dianthus deltoides occurs in considerable abundance. The flora includes several annual plants such as hare’s foot clover Trifolium arvense, knotted trefoil Trifolium striatum, forget-me-not Myosotis spp. and dove’s tail cranesbill Geranium molle which survive the unfavourable season of summer drought as seeds. Drought resistant perennials include common rock rose Helianthemum nummularium, biting stonecrop Sedum acre and meadow oat grass Avenula pratensis. By contrast with similar sites closer to the sea the maritime elements in the flora are absent. The shallow soils closely associated with bedrock favour plants with low competitive ability. Where there are pockets of deeper soil the flora is made up of coarse grasses such as false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius and tall herbs such as red campion Silene dioica, hogweed Heracleum sphondylium and common nettle Urtica dioica. On the hill top are bare rock slabs, shaped by ice, of subsidiary geomorphological interest. Plants growing in irregularities of the surface include the heath pearlwort Sagina subulata and where soil has collected along joint lines there are grasses, scattered wild onion and maiden pink.

Species mentioned