Come and be part of a global voice for wild plants and fungi
Fungi are crucial to nearly all life on Earth, but they are not given the recognition they deserve. Will you join our mission to change that?
Fungi are crucial to nearly all life on Earth, but they are not given the recognition and investment they deserve. Will you join our mission to change that?
Our corporate partners benefit from 35 years of experience in nature restoration so they can achieve real impact.
Become a Plantlife member today and together we will rebuild a world rich in plants and fungi
Location: near Settle, Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire OS: SD 836662 What Three Words location: ///outwards.swims.bigger
Habitat: Limestone pavement and limestone pasture
A unique landscape with spectacular views northwards to the Yorkshire “Three Peaks” of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent.
Plantlife bought Winskill Stones with the help of a public appeal to stop the extraction of rock from its limestone pavement and to allow its varied flora to thrive. The deep fissures in the limestone pavement provide a moist, shady hideaway for a range of woodland plants including ramsons, Dog’s Mercury Mercurialis perennis and Green Spleenwort Asplenium viride. In the pasture you will find Mountain Pansy, cowslips and early-purple orchids.
Other species prefer the low cliffs or humpbacks of limestone around the reserve, and the boldest displays of colour can be found on the ledges out of reach of grazing animals. You may see Kidney Vetch, Horseshoe Vetch, Common Rock-rose and 2 saxifrages, with Meadow Saxifrage usually found in grassland whilst Mossy Saxifrage prefers more exposed conditions.
Where the soil is thinner, or on crumbling limestone, you can find cushions of Spring Sandwort, whose flowers have five white petals that are just a little longer than the green sepals between them. Here too are mats of Limestone Bedstraw, with tiny white flowers and narrow leaves in whorls of six to eight up its stems. Herbs such as this and Wild Thyme are beginning to colonise even the desolate patches of rubble waste and pavement remains in two of the reserve’s fields. Rarities that are harder to spot include Green Spleenwort, Common Twayblade and Wall Lettuce.
Please take care on your visit. Be aware of the terrain and of any roads that pass through the reserve. Note that livestock periodically graze many of our reserves as part of their management.
Location: near Settle, Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire
Grid Reference: SD 836 662
Wild Thyme at Winskill Stones Nature Reserve
Curlew at Winskill Stones Nature Reserve
Kidney Vetch at Winskill Stones Nature Reserve
View out across to Pen y Ghent
Green Spleenwort
Early Purple Orchid
Winskill Stones is a 74-acre reserve of limestone pavement and limestone pasture. Discover more about it with this resource.
Come with us to discover this wild space together and see what we can find.
24 Plantlife
We will keep you updated by email about our work, news, campaigning, appeals and ways to get involved. We will never share your details and you can opt out at any time. Read our Privacy Notice.
