Quarrington Hill Grasslands
Encyclopedia
Quarrington Hill Grasslands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
in County Durham
, England
. The site consists of three separate areas, two closely adjacent to the east of the village of Quarrington Hill
, the third immediately west of the village, which lies 8 km south-east of Durham
City.
The area is important for its magnesian limestone grassland communities, which are largely confined to County Durham and increasingly scarce even there. The grasslands at Quarrington Hill are typical of the type, being characterised by the presence of blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, and small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria. Less common species include common milkwort, Polygala vulgaris, hairy violet, Viola hirta
, and wild carrot, Daucus carota. The nationally scarce dark-red helleborine, Epipactis atrorubens, is found at the site, as is basil thyme, Clinopodium acinos, a southern species that is uncommon this far north.
The Durham Argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis, a form which is only found in the magnesian limestone areas of Durham, is known to breed at the site.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The site consists of three separate areas, two closely adjacent to the east of the village of Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the north of Kelloe.Having been part of the extensive parish of Kelloe, it merged with the village of Cassop during the 19th Century to form the parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington...
, the third immediately west of the village, which lies 8 km south-east of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
City.
The area is important for its magnesian limestone grassland communities, which are largely confined to County Durham and increasingly scarce even there. The grasslands at Quarrington Hill are typical of the type, being characterised by the presence of blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, and small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria. Less common species include common milkwort, Polygala vulgaris, hairy violet, Viola hirta
Viola hirta
Viola hirta is a species of the plant genus Viola. It is also called Hairy violet. As with the Sweet Violet no fossil seeds of this species have been found. It is confined to the cold Temperate Zone, in Europe, N. and W. Asia, extending as far as N.-W. India...
, and wild carrot, Daucus carota. The nationally scarce dark-red helleborine, Epipactis atrorubens, is found at the site, as is basil thyme, Clinopodium acinos, a southern species that is uncommon this far north.
The Durham Argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis, a form which is only found in the magnesian limestone areas of Durham, is known to breed at the site.