Wymondham Rough

A delightful meeting of old and new, people and wildlife, Wymondham Rough is a mosaic of woodland, ponds, grassland and marshes – with a length of disused canal thrown in!

Location

Stapleford, Melton Mowbray
LE14 2SD

OS Map Reference

SK 831174 (Sheet 130)
A static map of Wymondham Rough

Know before you go

Size
13 hectares
z

Entry fee

Free
P

Parking information

Park on the eastern verge of the road, north of the level crossing (see map). Please remember to close the roadside gate.

Grazing animals

Livestock may be present

Access

The reserve lies 8 km east of Melton Mowbray and may be approached either along the minor road east from Burton Lazars, or via the B676, turning off before Saxby and following the western and southern boundaries of Stapleford Park.

Please note that the level crossing gates are hand operated and thus can cause delays, especially on Sundays.

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Always open

Best time to visit

Spring/Summer

About the reserve

A delightful meeting of old and new, people and wildlife, Wymondham Rough is a mosaic of woodland, ponds, grassland and marshes – with a length of disused canal thrown in! Whilst some of the habitats here are very recent, being heavily modified by the building of the canal and the railway in the 19th Century, around 4ha of grassland could be over three centuries old! The mixture of habitats brings a whole range of plants and animals, including contain cowslip, bugle and water avens in the spring; dropwort, great burnet, betony, devil's-bit scabious and yellow rattle bloom later. The locally rare hybrid avens occur in the woodland. Nests of harvest mice have been found in the hedges and common lizards may be seen alongside the railway. Barn owls and little owls have nested in a hollow oak and specially provided boxes. Butterflies are abundant in the summer especially skippers and browns, while green hairstreaks have occasionally been spied. The hedges contain some venerable ash trees and barberry, a shrub now rare in Leicestershire.

Environmental designation

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)