__NOTOC__ Briarwood Banks is the name given to a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, North East England. Composed mainly of elm, oak and ash, the site is semi-natural and now recovering from the removal of planted conifers.

Location and natural features

Briarwood Banks is situated in the south-west of the county of Northumberland, some south-south-east

Bardon Mill Bardon Mill is a small village in Northumberland, within the vicinity of the ancient Hadrian's Wall. It is located around from Hexham, from Carlisle, and from Newcastle upon Tyne. Nearby landmarks include Allen Banks & Staward Gorge, Sycamor ...

and west south-west of

Haydon Bridge Haydon Bridge is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of about 2000, the civil parish Haydon being measured at 2,184 in the Census 2011. Its most distinctive features are the two bridges crossing the River South Tyne: the pic ...

. The site occupies the banks of a fan of north-east running tributaries of the north-running River Allen including Farnalees Burn, Black Sike and Kingswood Burn, and its north-east boundary is formed by the Allen. The designated woodland area is in length and up to wide, covering and falling from above sea level in the south-west to at the Allen confluence. It is one of a number of SSSIs on the River Allen; to the south are Stewardpeel Woods starting upstream and the

Allen Confluence Gravels __NOTOC__ The Allen Confluence Gravels is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The site, listed since 1968, has an 'outstanding assemblage of river margin invertebrates.' Location and natura ...

some upstream.

Vegetation

A number of distinct assemblages of flora are observed at Briarwood Banks. Dominant on lower slopes is wych elm (''

Ulmus glabra ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...

''), beneath which are found dog’s mercury (''

Mercurialis perennis ''Mercurialis perennis'', commonly known as dog's mercury, is a poisonous woodland plant found in much of Europe as well as in Algeria, Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland.Galium odoratum ''Galium odoratum'', the sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China ...

''), wood melick ('' Melica uniflora''), giant bellflower (''

Campanula latifolia ''Campanula latifolia'', the giant bellflower, is a species of bellflower in the family Campanulaceae. It is also known as the large campanula and the wide-leaved bellflower. It is native to Europe and western Asia and is widely grown as an orna ...

''), enchanter’s nightshade ('' Circaea lutetiana'') and wood avens (''

Geum urbanum ''Geum urbanum'', also known as wood avens, herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict's herb (Latin ''herba benedicta''), is a perennial plant in the rose family (Rosaceae), which grows in shady places (such as woodland edges and near hedgerows) in ...

''). Oak (''

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

'') predominates the higher slopes with creeping soft-grass ('' Holcus mollis''), false brome (''

Brachypodium sylvaticum ''Brachypodium sylvaticum'', commonly known as false-brome, slender false brome or wood false brome, is a perennial grass native to Europe, Asia and Africa. It has a broad native range stretching from North Africa to Eurasia. The bunchgrass is ...

''), wood sorrel (''

Oxalis acetosella ''Oxalis acetosella'', the wood sorrel or common wood sorrel, is a rhizomatous flowering plant in the family '' Oxalidaceae'', common in most of Europe and parts of Asia. The specific epithet ''acetosella'' refers to its sour taste. The common ...

'') and broad buckler-fern (''

Dryopteris dilatata ''Dryopteris dilatata'', the broad buckler-fern, is a robust species of deciduous or semievergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, native to Europe, particularly western and central Europe. In southern Europe, it is mostly found in mountainou ...

''); and on very acid soil beneath oaks, great wood-rush (''

Luzula sylvatica ''Luzula sylvatica'', commonly known as greater wood-rush or great wood-rush, is a perennial flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae. Description ''Luzula sylvatica'' is the largest woodrush, with stems high. It forms clumps of bright g ...

''), bilberry (''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...

'') and common cow-wheat ('' Melampyrum pratense'') are found. Ash (''

Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Albor ...

'') is found site-wide, together with occurrences of downy birch (''

Betula pubescens ''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia ...

''), bird cherry ('' Prunus padus''), yew (''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

'') and alder (''

Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations wh ...

''). Beech (''

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

'') and sycamore ('' Acer pseudoplatanus'') in the woods are thought to survive from a historic management regime. Shrubs found in the woods include hazel (''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...

''), holly ('' Ilex aquifolium'') and hawthorn (''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and West Asia, but has been introduced in ...

''). Rocky outcrops on the site support hard shield-fern ('' Polystichum aculeatum'') and hart’s-tongue (''

Phyllitis scolopendrium ''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the genus ''Asplenium'' native to the Northern Hemisphere. Description The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, undivided fron ...

''). By contrast, wet flushes on the site support giant fescue (''

Festuca gigantea ''Festuca gigantea'', or giant fescue, is a plant species in the grass family, Poaceae. Because this and other members of ''Festuca'' subgenus ''Schedonorus'' have more in common morphologically with members of the genus ''Lolium'' than with ''F ...

''), tufted hair-grass (''

Deschampsia cespitosa ''Deschampsia cespitosa'', commonly known as tufted hairgrass or tussock grass, is a perennial tufted plant in the grass family Poaceae. Distribution of this species is widespread including the eastern and western coasts of North America, parts o ...

''), bugle (''

Ajuga reptans ''Ajuga reptans'' is commonly known as bugle, blue bugle, bugleherb, bugleweed, carpetweed, carpet bugleweed, and common bugle, and traditionally but less commonly as St. Lawrence plant. It is an herbaceous flowering plant in the mint family Lami ...

''), yellow pimpernel (''

Lysimachia nemorum ''Lysimachia nemorum'', the yellow pimpernel, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. Description ''Lysimachia nemorum'' is an evergreen creeping perennial herbaceous plant growing up to about 40 cm. The bright green leaves are ...

'') and meadowsweet (''

Filipendula ulmaria ''Filipendula ulmaria'', commonly known as meadowsweet or mead wort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia (Near east and Middle east). It has ...

''). Dark and damp areas of the woodland give rise to rare lichens such as ('' Biatorella monasteriensis''), ('' Lobaria laetevirens'') and ('' Leptogium teretiusculum''), as well as mosses and ferns including epiphytic polypody (''

Polypodium vulgare ''Polypodium vulgare'', the common polypody, is an evergreen fern of the family Polypodiaceae. ''Polypodium vulgare'' is an allotetraploid species, believed to have arisen by chromosome doubling of a sterile diploid hybrid between two ferns whic ...

'') and oak fern (''

Gymnocarpium dryopteris ''Gymnocarpium dryopteris'', the western oakfern, common oak fern , oak fern, or northern oak fern, is a deciduous fern of the family Cystopteridaceae. It is widespread across much of North America and Eurasia. It has been found in Canada, the ...

''). Other plant species noted are rare wood fescue ('' Festuca altissima'') found amongst moss on

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

s, mountain pansy (''

Viola lutea ''Viola lutea'', the mountain pansy, is a species of violet that grows in Europe, from the British Isles to the Balkans. Description ''Viola lutea'' grows to a height of around . Its flowers are in diameter, and are typically yellow, although ...

'') on alluvial deposits on the bank of the Allen; and reflecting the influence of heavy metals leachate from the Northern Pennine Orefield, alpine penny-cress (''

Noccaea caerulescens ''Noccaea'' is a problematic genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to temperate areas of western North America, southern South America, northern Africa, Europe and Asia. Species Currently accepted species include: *'' Noc ...

'') is found. The condition of Briarwood Banks was judged to be 'unfavourable-recovering' in 2010 & 2012 inspections, as actions to remove non-native species and exclude grazing take effect.

Fauna

Northumberland Wildlife Trust Northumberland Wildlife Trust was established in 1971 (following a split from the ''Northumberland & Durham Trust'', established 1962) to help conserve and protect the wildlife of Northumberland, Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside in the UK ...

asserts that the woods are one of the most northerly habitats for

dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

. Other species associated with the woods include

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

and red squirrel. Bird species include the

pied wagtail The white wagtail (''Motacilla alba'') is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in much of Europe and the Asian Palearctic and parts of North Africa. It has a toeho ...

and the

greater spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...

Access

Northumberland Wildlife Trust manages of the site as a nature reserve with full public access, including provision for wheelchair users.

References

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Location and natural features

Vegetation

Fauna

Access

See also

References

External links