Hastings Hill

Also within

Tyne & Wear County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Rock Type: Limestone

Description

Area, 1.25 hectares 3.1 ac Description The short grazed turf of the small but prominent hill, known as Hastings Hill and the recolonised spoil heaps of the associated disused quarry, are of interest for their Magnesian Limestone grassland communities. The grassland of the hill slopes and spoil heaps supports herb rich communities dominated by blue moor grass Sesleria caeruleae, meadow oat grass Avenula pratensis, crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha, red fescue Festuca rubra and quaking grass Briza media, including many herbs characteristic of Magnesian Limestone soils such as bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, common rock rose Helianthemum nummularium, wild thyme Thymus praecox, glaucous sedge Carex flacca, carline thistle Carlina vulgaris, salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba, burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga, lady’s bedstraw Galium verum, harebell Campanula rotundifolia, common rest-harrow Ononis repens and roughhawk bit Leontodon hispidus, as well as the taller herbs, greater knapweed Centaurea scabiosa, musk thistle Carduus nutans, oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare and small scabious Scabiosa columbaria. Of particular note are the large populations of felwort Gentianella amarella which grows on the western slopes of the hill, as well as the small population of pyramidal orchids Anacamptis pyramidalis associated with old earth works and spoil heaps on the floor of the disused quarry. The latter species not only occurs here towards the northern limit of its range in Britain, but the site is one of only two known surviving inland colonies of this species in the region and is its only station in the county.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.