Camley Street Natural Park is an urban nature reserve in St Pancras in central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and within the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

. It is a local nature reserve. The park was closed to the public for reconstruction in December 2017 and reopened in September 2021.

Description

Comprising of land on the banks of the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...

– by St Pancras Lock and adjoining St Pancras Basin, the park is both a sanctuary for wildlife and an educational centre, forming "a lovely oasis". It is run by the

London Wildlife Trust London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature conservatio ...

. A visitors' centre caters for casual visitors and school parties, though tours must be booked. In shape the park is a narrow strip of land bounded by the canal, Camley Street and Goods Way. The entrance is through an ornate gate on Camley Street. Admission to the park is free. It is open daily.

Ecology

A variety of

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

co-exist in the park's small environs, including

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, which attract

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, and at least six species of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

. Over 300 higher plants have been found at the site; highlights include common broomrape (''

Orobanche minor ''Orobanche minor'', the hellroot, common broomrape, lesser broomrape, small broomrape or clover broomrape, is a holoparasitic flowering plant belonging to the family Orobanchaceae. It is one of about 150 non-photosynthetic plants in the genus ...

''), hairy buttercup ('' Ranunculus sardous'') and common spotted orchid (''

Dactylorhiza fuchsii ''Dactylorhiza fuchsii'', the common spotted orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. ''Dactylorhiza fuchsii'' is one of Europe's commonest wild orchids. It is widespread across much of Europe, with the range ex ...

''). The site is divided into the following habitats: * A summer-flowering meadow, * A pond with varying water level, dependent on the canal water level, * Marshland with reed bed, * Coppiced woodland, * Deciduous woodland, * Mixed woodland with scrub, * Mixed woodland with hedgerow, * Dipping pond (with boardwalk), * Rainwater ponds. Meadow herbs include white clover and poppy. Woodland trees include hazel, rowan, hawthorn and silver birch. Hazel and willow are coppiced regularly. Woodland herbs include lesser celandine and wild violet. Marshland herbs include marsh marigold, greater pond sedge, pendulous sedge, reed, bogbean, mallow and yellow iris. Marsh-nesting birds include

reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen". They are close relatives of coots. They are of ...

coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...

and

reed warbler The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler famil ...

History

Until the 17th century the area was in the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

woodlands. In the 18th century it came under industrial use, and the

was built along the eastern edge of the former country estate. In the 19th century the area was used for coal chutes, first for the canal and then for the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

. Camley Street was originally known as Cambridge Street, until renamed by the LCC. The site became derelict by the 1970s. In 1984,

Camden Borough Council Camden London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Camden is divided into 18 Wards of the United King ...

assigned the nascent London Wildlife Trust to manage the site. The park opened in 1985. In 2008,

King's Cross Central King's Cross Central (''KXC'') is a multi-billion pound mixed-use development in the north-east of central London. The site is owned and controlled by thKing's Cross Central Limited Partnership It consists of approximately of former railway la ...

started to plan a major development to the east and south of the park, with a footbridge across the Regent's Canal into the park.

Activities

The park hosts pond dipping and

wildlife watching Wildlife observation is the practice of noting the occurrence or abundance of animal species at a specific location and time, either for research purposes or recreation. Common examples of this type of activity are bird watching and whale watching ...

sessions for children. Its visitor centre is used by the Wildlife Watch Club.

Value

According to the Mayor of London's Biodiversity Strategy, "Camley Street Natural Park, in particular, has demonstrated that a valuable wildlife space can be created from nothing to become a hub of communal and educational activity, supporting wildlife such as the

in a place where this would otherwise be unthinkable. Visitors from far and wide come to learn from this example."

External links

London Wildlife Trust - Camley Street Natural Park

References

{{London Wildlife Trust Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Camden Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Camden London Wildlife Trust Kings Cross, London