Swanwick Lakes Wildlife Reserve

 

Swanwick Lakes Centre and Wildlife Reserve has been managed as a wildlife reserve by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust since 1991 with funding from site owners NATS. The flooded clay pits, woodland and meadow provide a mixture of habitats for wildlife on this 89 acre former clay extraction site for Bursledon Brickworks.

  

Clay has been extracted in the area since the late 19th century with the first pit being dug on the reserve site in 1948.

Extraction finished in 1974, since when woodland has developed over much of the reserve.

New Hill was created using spoil from the site and sown with meadow seed mix.

Centre Lake has been zoned to make it more accessible for wildlife and a variety of insects and birds can be seen there.

• Getting around
• The Centre
• Hampshire Wildlife Trust
• Points of Interest
• Seasonal Highlights

How will I get around?

The reserve is an ideal place to explore, walk and relax. There are 3 circular routes you can follow; pick up a leaflet and plot your own route or just explore this special place.

Most of the paths are surfaced and have benches every 200m or less. There are slopes (10-20% for up to 50m into the pits but the paths are flat elsewhere.

For further information about Swanwick Lakes, how to get around and a map of the reserve, view the Swanwick Lakes leaflet (this is an external hyperlink).

The Centre

Swanwick Lakes Centre is open to the public on Sunday afternoons from 2-5pm. There is children's crafts, wildlife information, tea and coffee plus visit our bird viewing area. We are still actively seeking to recruit volunteers to help with Sunday openings if anyone is interested please contact Jo Trotter via email at jot@hwt.org.uk if you would like to help out at the Centre.

The reserve offers a well appointed Centre that’s an excellent starting point for exploring the history and wildlife of the site. In addition to working with visiting schools, youth groups and adult special interest groups, staff provide a busy programme of public guided walks and events. Wildlife Watch meetings are also held at the centre once a month.  For information about the Swanwick Watch group, visit the National Wildlife Watch website (this is an external hyperlink).

  

Hampshire Wildlife Trust

We are the leading local wildlife conservation charity in Hampshire and the Island. We care for 57 wildlife reserves – more than 6,500 acres of valuable wildlife habitat – and by providing volunteering, education and training opportunities, we enable individuals and communities to provide sustained benefit to these essential wild places.

Not only do we manage our own land, we also advise other landowners how to manage their land with wildlife in mind. We carry out surveys and gather data to monitor how our local wildlife is doing. We work to protect wildlife on land and in the sea – so that we can all enjoy a future rich in wildlife.

If you are interested, you can become a volunteer or a member of the Trust.  As a volunteer you can help us look after the reserve and help with events here and at other Trust reserves and centres.  As a member you will be doing your bit to support and protect local wildlife for the future.  For further information please see our pre-visit Information Pack (this is an external hyperlink).

Points of Interest

Centre Lake - Centre Lake began in 1951 as a deep hole and was partly filled and flooded in 1991 to create a shallow lake.  Over the years nature has transformed a sterile clay pit into a lake teeming with life.

New Hill - This hill is man-made, built with material dug during the building of the air traffic control centre in 1991.  Grass and wildflower seed was scattered over the hill to produce the meadow you see today.

Stream - The stream carries water westward from the farmland to the River Hamble.  Freshwater shrimps, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs are some of the creatures found in and around the stream.

Conveyor Path - This path follows the line of a long conveyor belt that carried clay dug from the pits to a cableway for transporting to the brickworks at Bursledon.  Part of this path is made from reject bricks and these can be identified by the BBC stamp.

Clay Pits - When the Bursledon Brickworks closed in 1974 after 25 years of brick-making the clay pits flooded forming the four lakes you see here today.

Woodland - The trees here have all grown since 1974 when the brickworks closed and clay digging stopped.  The earth bank in front of the wire fence is an old field boundary and the trees on it are the oldest on the reserve.

Longaldridge Pasture - Strawberries were grown here until 1939.  Over the years nature has replaced these strawberries with orchids, selfheal and other wildflowers providing nectar for butterflies, bees and other insects.

Seasonal Highlights

Spring - Great spotted woodpeckers drumming and morning chorus of birdsong.

Summer - Dragonflies darting across the water and butterflies dancing over meadows.

Autumn - Gold-coloured birch trees reflected in deep green lakes and fungi erupting from the woodland floor.

Winter - Sunlight streaking through frosted trees and flocks of tits passing close by.