Dunham Park

Also within

Greater Manchester County

Condition (Natural England)

Description

Area, 77.991 hectares 192.716 ac Description Dunham Park is located 14 kilometres south west of Manchester City centre immediately to the west of Bowden. This site forms part of the estate of the 10th Earl of Stamford which was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976. The majority of Dunham Park is pasture woodland or park woodland and has been managed as such since mediaeval times. The main tree species are pedunculate oak and beech with ash, common lime, elm, birch and alder occasionally present. A large number of the oak and beech trees are ancient, with some dating back to the 17th Century. Dunham Park is the only site in the north west and one of the few remaining sites in Britain with such a considerable number of old trees. Their associated dead wood beetle fauna is exceptionally rich with 181 species recorded for this site including Dropephylla grandiloqua, a particularly rare beetle. Twenty seven of these species, including Trinodes hirtus, Poecilium alni and Silvanus bidentatus, have Dunham Park as their only known locality in the north west of England. There are very few sites in Britain which still hold such a rich variety of dead wood insects. Consequently Dunham Park is regarded as being of national importance for its mature timber fauna. There is also a herd of fallow deer which has associated with it the rare forest dung beetle Limarus zenkeri. The fly fauna is very rich with over 350 species known for this site. Many of these too are associated with the ancient oak and beech trees.

Species mentioned