Gosling's Corner

Also within

Lincolnshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Bracken scrub, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Limestone

Description

Description Goslings Corner lies in the Bardney Forest area of Lincolnshire, close to several other woodlands dominated by small leaved lime Tilia cordata, collectively known as the Central Lincolnshire Limestone SSSI. The lowland variant of maple ash lime woodland, a rare and threatened habitat type, which occurs in Goslings Corner is not well represented in the existing SSSI, apart from small stands in Wickenby and Newball Woods. The woodland has a coppice with standards structure, with standards of pedunculate oak Quercus robur over coppiced ash Fraxinus excelsior, small leaved lime, hazel Corylus avellana, silver birch Betula pendula and field maple Acer campestre. Other trees and shrubs, some indicating mildly calcareous conditions, include common and midland hawthorns Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata, wild privet Ligustrum vulgare, goat and grey willows Salix caprea and Salix cinerea, dogwood Cornus sanguinea and dog and field rose Rosa canina and Rosa arvensis. Goslings Corner, although small, has a very rich ground flora, with the dominant species reflecting variations in soil moisture and base status. In the wettest areas, water avens Geum rivale tends to become dominant, whereas in the areas where the soils are more freely drained, dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis, bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta and wood anemone Anemone nemorosa are frequent. Associated plants include ramsons Allium ursinum, goldilocks Ranunculus auricomus, bugle Ajuga reptans, enchanter's nightshade Circaea lutetiana, pignut Conopodium majus, meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria, barren strawberry Potentilla sterilis, lesser celandine Ficaria verna, bramble Rubus fruticosus and common dog violet Viola riviniana. The soils are slightly more acid along the western edge of the wood and species such as lily of the valley Convallaria majalis, wood sorrel Oxalis acetosella, honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum, bracken Pteridium aquilinum and hairy wood rush Luzula pilosa occur here. Other notable plants include greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha, bird's nest orchid Neottia nidus-avis and broad leaved helleborine Epipactis helleborine.

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.

Plant communities