About the reserve

The reserve offers visitors an unrivalled view down to the River Wye SSSI, and across to the open countryside beyond Rotherwas and over to Dinedor Hill.

The field slopes steeply from the Hampton Park Road end down towards the River Wye SSSI, which flows along the southern boundary of the site. There is a large steep-sided mound in the centre of the site and a gully runs across the field from north-west to south-east.

The orchard includes a number of recently planted fruit trees as well as mature and over mature dessert and cider apples. These older trees support their own range of invertebrates and provide food for visiting fieldfares and redwings in the autumn/ winter. Hollows in some of the older trees may also provide roosting sites for bats. Several of the apple trees have growths of parasitic mistletoe.

The south facing steep banks of the mound have a particularly fine array of wildflowers, including burnet saxifrage, lady’s bedstraw, self-heal, meadow vetchling, agrimony and common knapweed. Wild daffodils may be seen at the top of the slope in early spring.