Sprotbrough Gorge

Also within

South Yorkshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: Gorge / Ravine · Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Rock Type: Limestone

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Area, 76.9 hectares 190.1 ac Description The River Don passes through the Magnesian Limestone west of Doncaster via the Sprotbrough Gorge. Although much of the slopes have been quarried for their particularly pure limestone used in the glass industry, fragments of ancient woodland remain. Together with other features such as marshland and open water, they provide an important mosaic for invertebrate species and birds. North west and south east facing slopes of the Gorge bear calcareous ash wych elm woodland southern variant in Pot Ridings, Levitt Hagg, Engine, Farcliff and Nearcliff Woods. Wychelm, ash and sycamore are typically abundant in the canopy, with field maple, silver birch, pedunculate oak, yew, small and large leaved lime, crab apple and wild cherry. Collectively, they are among the three best examples of this type in the county. The shrub layer is diverse and well developed, with hazel, hawthorn, elder, dogwood, guelder rose, wild privet, holly, field rose, goat willow, buckthorn and spindle. The field layer is very rich and also diverse, with dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis, ramsons Allium ursinum, wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, wood sedge Carex sylvatica, enchanter's nightshade Circaea lutetiana and sanicle Sanicula europaea. The north western parts of Pot Ridings Wood support a nationally notable invertebrate fauna, many of the species being particularly associated with ancient woodland sites. Beetles, such as Blapstinus metallicus, flies, such as Mycomya ornata and the bush cricket Meconema thalassinum are associated with the foliage or dead wood of the trees and the tree associated fungi, while other species, such as the cranefly Limonia nigropunctata, are found within the herb layer or humus soils. Sprotbrough Flash is a water filled subsidence area lying parallel to the River Don and is fringed with tall marginal plants, particularly reed sweet grass Glyceria maxima. It is regionally notable for its breeding birds, including water fowl such as little grebe, great crested grebe, mute swan, gadwall and tufted duck. Small areas of limestone grassland occur, such as to the south of Nursery Lane Quarry, and although not in themselves regionally notable, they are of local importance and add diversity to the Gorge. They include attractive plants such as bee orchid Ophyrs apifera and cowslip Primula veris. Likewise, Fowlsyke Flash is of local importance and has a good range of aquatic plants by comparison with other water bodies in the region, with spiked water milfoil Myriophyllum spicatum and rigid horn wort Ceratophyllum demersum.

Species mentioned

Plant communities