Evelyn Howick Memorial

Evelyn Howick - Steven Morris

Evelyn Howick Memorial. Image by: Steven Morris.

A disused limestone quarry site, with probably the best exposure of Acre limestone in the county, with diverse habitats favoured by birds, amphibians and invertebrates.

Location

4.5km west of Craster, near the Little Mill level crossing
Craster
Northumberland

OS Map Reference

NU 226 172
A static map of Evelyn Howick Memorial

Know before you go

Size
6 hectares
z

Entry fee

No
P

Parking information

Parking is available near the Limery (postcode NE66 3LN) but please do not obstruct access on the farm tracks.

Grazing animals

The estate currently uses the reserve for grazing sheep, mainly during the summer months between April and October.

Walking trails

Enter the quarry on foot straight past the house. Paths are generally informal, narrow grass tracks. Please note: do not approach the kilns, for safety reasons.

Access

Access by permit.  Please contact the Trust for details.

Dogs

No dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

24/7/365

Best time to visit

April to August

About the reserve

The reserve was created in memory of the late Lord Howick, formerly chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council and a former President of Northumberland Wildlife Trust from a ‘dormant’ quarry site. There are reminders of the site's active quarrying days, including lime kilns which are a Grade II listed building. There is also a steel ammunition (explosives) shed made from a former ship's boiler, trackways connecting the quarry face to the lime kilns, a series of stone compartments (used for coal storage), a stone-lined pumping shaft with remains of headworks, a filled-in shaft (marked as a well on some maps), remnants of both rails and sleepers, and iron piping.

Most of the quarry has been back-filled with waste stone except for an area below the quarry face on the north side which has filled with water to form two ponds. Damp and water-logged areas are also present below the rock face on the west and south sides. The quarry waste is now covered with mosses, grasses and herbs with some scattered scrub. Mature scrub (mostly hawthorn) is to be found at the north-east corner of the reserve. An exclosure on the south side of the large pond has been fenced to exclude stock and originally to monitor the effects of different management regimes. A further exclosure was constructed in 1996 to enable newly-planted trees and scrub species to be protected from grazing.

The reserve's diversity of habitat creates favourable conditions particularly for birds, amphibians and invertebrates. The grassland, formerly species-poor, has now developed a range of flora. The wide variety of interest makes the reserve important for naturalists, geologists and historians as well as the casual visitor. Active management is required if its full potential is to be realised. The ponds around the edge of the site contain water plantain, bulrush and bur-reed, and are used by coots and moorhens, with frogs and smooth newts also present. Tufted duck, sparrowhawk and willow warbler are just a few of the bird species that can be seen at the reserve. Common mammals include stoats, moles and shrews. The grassland contains species such as bulbous buttercup, early purple orchid and mouse-eared hawkweed.

Contact us

Northumberland Wildlife Trust
Contact number: (0191) 284 6884
Contact email: mail@northwt.org.uk

Environmental designation

County Wildlife Site