Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit

Also within

East Riding of Yorkshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Rock Type: Chalk

Birds & fish recorded

Fish

Description

Area, 4.037 hectares 9.98 ac Description Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit consists of a revegetated quarry of 3 hectares bounded to the south by a disused railway line and to the north by a nearly vertical quarry face some 10 metres high, above which is a further area of chalk grassland. The pit is noted for its chalk grassland flora and associated invertebrate fauna. The plant communities are dominated by tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum, although this is largely kept in check by management. The shallow chalk soil of the flat quarry floor supports a wide diversity of calcicolous herbs of which felwort Gentianella amarella and pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis are particularly abundant. Other species present include kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, quaking grass Briza media, fairy flax Linum catharticum, bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, rest-harrow Ononis repens and carline thistle Carlina vulgaris. The site has a particularly diverse butterfly fauna, with sixteen species recorded, including grayling, ringlet, meadow brown, common blue, dingy skipper and large skipper. Other Information 1. During the 1984 revision the boundary has been extended. 2. The site is managed as a nature reserve by the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Trust. * Under Section 23 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949.

Species mentioned