Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit

Last updated

Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Hay-a-Park SSSI (43).JPG
Hay-a-Park Lake
North Yorkshire UK location map (2023).svg
Red pog.svg
Location within North Yorkshire
Location North Yorkshire
Grid reference SE362580
Coordinates 54°00′54″N01°27′00″W / 54.01500°N 1.45000°W / 54.01500; -1.45000
InterestBiological
Area44.8687 hectares (0.4487 km2; 0.1732 sq mi)
Notification 15 June 1995
Location map Magic Map (Defra)

Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, adjacent to the east side of the town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. Having been a disused and flooded quarry since the 1970s, it now consists of the large Hay-a-Park Lake and three smaller ponds, besides associated reedbeds, scrub, woodland and grassland. It was designated as a SSSI in 1995 because it supports a number of wintering birds, including a large flock of goosander. This site is "one of the most northerly inland breeding populations of reed warbler in Britain." [1] Hay-a-Park was once part of a royal park, an early landowner being Edward II.

Contents

Site history

The area once belonged to the Crown; then Edward II gave it to his favourite, Piers Gaveston. After Gaveston was executed, it passed back to the Crown, but was subject to poaching for some time. [2] In the 14th century the area was known as Park de la Haye where Edward III bred horses. [3] Edward's fifteen-year-old wife Philippa of Hainault was given this land on the occasion of her marriage; she was later the mother of the Black Prince (whose statue stands in Leeds City Square) and John of Gaunt. [4] [nb 1] Another story says that in the 11th or 12th century Henry I conferred the lands to Gamel de Scriven, and they remained in the family under various names including Edward II until the last heir, Sir Charles Slingsby, died falling from his horse into the river in 1869, leaving no issue. [5] [6]

Tree-lined lakeside footpath Hay-a-Park SSSI (61).JPG
Tree-lined lakeside footpath

The area later became known as Haya Park. By the seventeenth century the land was at least partly wooded, and managed for timber. By the end of that century it was owned by Lady Hewley, who used its rents to support the Church and charities. [2] When its farmland was valued in 1755 by Robert Moody of York, the land was considered potentially good for cultivation, but contemporary farmers were "poor idle drunken ignorant fellows" who spent Sundays in the alehouse; so that the land was "miserably run and full of weeds," with no prospect of land improvement. [7] In the 19th century the leasehold of Haya Park was purchased for the purpose of rectorial tithes by York Minster; [8] it was still a royal park, where deer were protected. [2]

Part of Hay-a-Park later became a gravel works, and the site occupies a section which has been "largely undisturbed since the completion of extraction in the early 1970s." [1]

Site location and designation

Unlabelled entrance to Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit Hay-a-Park SSSI (1).JPG
Unlabelled entrance to Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit

Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit is a 44.8687 hectares (0.4487 km2; 0.1732 sq mi) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), [9] consisting of "standing open water and canals." [10] This reserve has no parking area, no visitor facilities, and no official public footpaths. Fishing and swimming are not permitted, and dog-walking is discouraged due to disturbance of water birds. The site is adjacent to the eastern edge of Knaresborough, accessible by public footpath from two unlabelled entrances on Park Lane, one located near the railway bridge, and the other next to Knaresborough Rugby Club. [11]

The site was first notified on 15 June 1995, being "of interest for its breeding birds and wintering wildfowl." [1] It is one of about eight SSSIs in the Harrogate region, [12] others being Ripon Parks, [13] Farnham Mires, [14] Hack Fall Wood, [15] Brimham Rocks, [16] Cow Myers, [17] Kirk Deighton [18] Mar Field Fen, [19] Quarry Moor, [20] and Bishop Monkton Ings. [21] As described by Natural England in 1995, the site contains the 24-hectare Hay-a-Park Lake at the north end of the site, "three small ponds" at the south end, and "associated areas of reedbed, scrub, mature hedgerow and grassland," however as of 2019 much of the scrub had become woodland. [1]

Significant site content

Fauna

Of "national importance" are the goosander which winter here, numbering up to 315 birds as counted in 1995. Of "local importance" are wigeon, greylag, coot and mallard. In spring, oystercatcher, wigeon and various geese graze on the adjacent field. Tufted duck, mallard and great crested grebe breed on or near Hay-a-Park Lake, as do common sandpiper and ringed plover. Grasshopper warbler and sedge warbler breed on the small ponds. The reed warbler breeds here too, being "one of the most northerly inland breeding populations of reed warbler in Britain." [1] The fly Raphium laticorne has been found in "nine lowland localities" in Yorkshire including at Hay-a-Park, and Campsicnemus marginatus has also been found here. [22]

Flora

Maintenance

Shallow water area at lake margin Hay-a-Park SSSI (49).JPG
Shallow water area at lake margin

Although the former quarry pit Hay-a-Park Lake may be deep, Natural England recommends that the presence of any shallow water areas be maintained. This is for the benefit of wintering waders and feeding ducks and geese. Shallow waters allow aquatic plants to receive light, thereby allowing breeding conditions for dragonflies and damselflies. "Protection of appropriate water quality" is required, as is regulation of potential incoming water and sediment. "Bottom feeding coarse fish" must be removed, because they may "uproot plants and disturb sediments." "Appropriate nesting and feeding conditions are maintained" with regard to open land, scrub and reeded areas. "Recreational activities should be managed sympathetically to avoid conflict with the management of the waterbody for nature conservation," and "recreational use of woodland should be discouraged" should the site contain a heronry. [23]

Development and risk assessment

A 2012 assessment of the site was "unfavourable, declining." Notices have been erected at two entrance points of the site, to remind the public that there has been a continuing concern about "illegal fishing" here. There are also issues of freshwater fish-stocking, public access and disturbance. [24] [25] A woman was photographed swimming recreationally in the lake in winter 2019, putting greylags to flight. [nb 2] Some visitors to Hay-a-Park have been carrying out three categories of "operations likely to damage the special interest," namely articles 16a, 27 and 28 of Natural England's views about management of the SSSI. [26] Nevertheless, the published audit for the Knaresborough Development Plan of 2016 described the site as being available for recreational use, and designated it as an "important community area" (ICA). [27]

Notes

  1. ↑ John of Gaunt was Lord of the manor of Knaresborough, and he kept a hunting lodge at Haverah Park near Haya Park.
  2. ↑ See image File:Hay-a-Park SSSI (41).JPG

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knaresborough</span> Market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Knaresborough is a market and spa town and civil parish on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is three miles east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brimham Rocks</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Brimham Rocks, once known as Brimham Crags, is a 183.9-hectare (454-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, on Brimham Moor in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site, notified as SSSI in 1958, is an outcrop of Millstone Grit, with small areas of birch woodland and a large area of wet and dry heath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Monkton</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Bishop Monkton is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, about five miles south of Ripon. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 775, increasing slightly to 778 at the 2011 Census. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population to be 760.

Acres Farm Meadow is a 4.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Wiltshire, notified in 1989. It lies between the villages of Somerford Keynes and Minety. The SSSI is the former site of a mediaeval ridge and furrow system which lies on the Upper Jurassic Oxford Clay. The site is home to grasses, sedges and herbs. Trees such as oak, maple, English elm and hawthorn can be found in the hedgerows on the site, which provide nesting sites for lesser whitethroat, willow warbler, yellowhammer and bullfinch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Thet</span> River in Norfolk, England

The River Thet is a river in Norfolk, England and is a tributary of the River Little Ouse.It rises in Breckland with sources in Deopham Green and Rockland All Saints and joins the Little Ouse in Thetford after flowing approximately southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisham Woods</span>

Bisham Woods is an 86-hectare (210-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Cookham in Berkshire. The site is also a Local Nature Reserve and part of Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation. The SSSI is part of a 153.2-hectare (379-acre) site, also called Bisham Woods, which has been owned and managed by the Woodland Trust since 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acaster South Ings</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Acaster South Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, near York, England. It consists of two alluvial flood-meadows, and was designated in 1988 because it supports diverse fauna and flora, some of which is rare in the Vale of York area. One of the rarities is the tansy beetle, which feeds on the leaves of the tansy plant.

The Bottoms is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It lies just south of the A181 road, roughly midway between the villages of Cassop and Wheatley Hill, some 10 km south-east of Durham city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits</span>

Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits is a 117.2-hectare (290-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wraysbury in Berkshire. It is part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarry Moor</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Quarry Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, at the south edge of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, and adjacent to the A61 road. It contains an outcrop of Magnesian Limestone, exposed by former quarrying. 255 million years ago this limestone was the peripheral sediment of a tropical sea. The land was donated in 1945 to the people of Ripon by the town's mayor, Alderman Thomas Fowler Spence, a varnish manufacturer. The land was notified as an SSSI in 1986 because its calcareous grassland supported a large diversity of plant species. The site features a Schedule 8 protected plant, thistle broomrape. The land is protected as a nature reserve, and it is also managed as a recreational area. Therefore, its calcareous grass area is fenced off for protection and study, but it also contains a car park, information signs, a children's play area, accessible paths, benches, and dog waste bins.

<i>Orobanche reticulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Orobanche reticulata is a species of broomrape known by the common name thistle broomrape. It is a parasitic plant whose host is normally the creeping thistle. It is native to the lowlands of Western Europe and Central Asia, but in the United Kingdom it is a rare and protected plant, growing only in Yorkshire, on grassland sites such as Quarry Moor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farnham Mires</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Farnham Mires is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, to the east of the village of Farnham, North Yorkshire, England. It consists of a spring-fed marshy fen or mire with reeds and sedge, and drier calcareous grassland containing a diverse range of flora. It has a history of poaching and fox hunting, but since the late 19th century, the attention of botanists has been drawn to its large variety of flowering plants. It has received some consideration on this account since 1944, and from 1954 it was designated SSSI status. This site has no facilities, and is not open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cow Myers (wetland)</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Cow Myers is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), near Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. The site was designated in 1984 for its fen and alder carr habitat, which supports a diversity of wetland plant life. Of particular interest are the bird's eye primrose which is scarce in Yorkshire, and early marsh orchid. There is no public access to this site, no vehicular access, and no public facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Monkton Ings</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Bishop Monkton Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated east of Bishop Monkton village in North Yorkshire, England. It consists mostly of marshy, calcareous grassland, with some broadleaved woodland, and some fen alongside the two watercourses which run through the site. This varied wetland forms a habitat for a variety of plants, including the semi-parasitic marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mar Field Fen</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Mar Field Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, north of Masham, North Yorkshire, England, in a rural area known as Marfield. It is situated on land containing woodland carr, fen, spring-fed marshy grassland and drier calcareous grassland, between the River Ure to the east and Marfield Wetland nature reserve to the west. As "one of the best examples of fen habitat in the Vale of York," it is a protected habitat for a variety of plants, including the common butterwort, a carnivorous plant. There is no public access to this site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hack Fall Wood</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Hack Fall Wood, otherwise known as Hackfall, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, of 44.8687 hectares, lying north-east of the village of Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire, England. During the 18th century it was landscaped in the picturesque style by landowner William Aislabie, who created views by engineering streams and pools, planting trees and building follies. J. M. W. Turner and William Sawrey Gilpin painted it, and pictures of it featured on Catherine the Great's 1773 Wedgwood dinner service. Some 19th century writers called it "one of the most beautiful woods in the country."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripon Parks</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Ripon Parks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated north of Ripon, to the west of the River Ure and to the east of the village of North Stainley, in North Yorkshire, England. It was once part of the land held since the Middle Ages as a deer park by the archbishops of York and the canons of Ripon. The site was designated as an SSSI in 1983, because its varied habitats are valued for their breeding birds, amphibians and varied flora. The woods here are "of note" for the parasitic flowers of common toothwort and yellow star-of-Bethlehem. A small part of the site is accessible via public footpaths; there are no public facilities or dedicated car parks. The site incorporates the High Batts Nature Reserve, which is privately run for training, recording and educational purposes, and accessible to members only, except for its annual open day. Ripon Parks is now owned by the Ministry of Defence, and parts of the site are used as military training areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Deighton SSSI</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Kirk Deighton SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Alton's Field, Kirk Deighton, North Yorkshire, England. This site has been recognised as having one of the largest known breeding populations of great crested newts in the United Kingdom. It is a Special Area of Conservation, and is listed for protection under a number of directives. This ordinary-looking grassland field, with a couple of ponds in it, is ideal habitat for the newts, which use the grassland for foraging, the ponds for breeding, and surrounding walls, hedges and woodpiles for hibernation. The site is not accessible to the public, and it is not permissible to survey the ponds without a licence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonesfield Common, Bottoms and Banks</span>

Stonesfield Common, Bottoms and Banks is a 27.45-hectare (67.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Stonesfield in Oxfordshire.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hay-a-Park SSSI: citation" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 1995. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hay-a-Park Website: Chapter 1, ancient history". oocities.org (mirrored from Geocities). Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  3. ↑ Kellet, Arnold (15 July 2011). A to Z of Knaresborough History. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   978-1445626406 . Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Chrystal, Paul (15 September 2014). Secret Knaresborough. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   978-1445643489 . Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "The last of the Slingsbys (from The Athenaeum)". Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette. British Newspaper Archive. 18 March 1869. p. 1 col 4. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  6. ↑ Burke, John (1838). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Henry Colburn. p. 882. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  7. ↑ F., Westley (1826). The Manchester Socinian Controversy. p. 200. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  8. ↑ A., Prentice (1829). The Report of His Majesty's Commissioners Concerning Dame Sarah Hewley's Charity. A. Prentice. p. 17. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "Designated sites view: Hay-a-Park site detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Harrogate: Natural England. 15 June 1995. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Designated sites view, Hay-a-Park SSSI, unit list". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 1995. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Magic Map: Hay-a-Park SSSI". magic.defra.gov.uk. Defra. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Appendix III: wildlife sites in Harrogate district" (PDF). Harrogate.gov.uk (cached). Harrogate: Harrogate Council. July 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Newton, Joanne (1983). "Natural England designated sites view: Ripon Parks SSSI". Designatedsites.naturalengland.co.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  14. ↑ Newton, Joanne (13 January 1984). "Designated sites view: Farnham Mires SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Designated sites view: Hack Fall Wood SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 16 October 1989. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "Designated sites view, Brimham Rocks SSSI, details". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 19 February 1988. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  17. ↑ Newton, Joanne (26 January 1984). "Designated sites view: Cow Myers SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Harrogate: Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  18. ↑ Dickinson, Michelle (16 August 2000). "Kirk Deighton SSSI, details". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  19. ↑ Newton, Joanne (2 October 1988). "Designated sites view: Mar Field Fen SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Harrogate SE 222 819: Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  20. ↑ Newton, Joanee (1 May 1986). "Designated sites view: Quarry Moor SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Harrogate SE 309 693: Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  21. ↑ Newton, Joanne (1 October 1986). "Designated sites view: Bishop Monkton Ings SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  22. ↑ Crossley, Roy (December 2014). "The dolichopodid flies of North Cave Wetlands, a former sand and gravel quarry" (PDF). The Naturalist, Journal of Natural History for the North of England. 139 (1087): 175. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  23. ↑ "Englaish Nature: Hay-a-Park, views about management" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  24. ↑ "Designated sites view: Condition of SSSI Units for Site Hay-a-Park SSSI". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  25. ↑ "Designated sites view: designated condition summary". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Natural England. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  26. ↑ "Operations likely to damage the special interest" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.gov.uk. Natural England. 1995. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  27. ↑ Sanderson, Councillor Wendy (25 July 2016). "The green spaces and parkland of Knaresborough" (PDF). knaresboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk. Knaresborough Town Council. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.