Mappp.co - Messingham Heath

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Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Recovering (1)

Unit	Feature	Condition	Area (ha)	Assessed
SE877034	—	Unfavourable Recovering	17.77	2024-09-16

Climate exposure

This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.

Coastal

Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Jurassic

Landscape processes: Coastal

Description

Area, 17.4 hectares 43.0 ac Description Messingham Heath is an important example of cover sand heathland. Such heathland, once extensive in the Scunthorpe Messingham area, originated as a result of largely wind blown sand accumulating against the Jurassic escarpment of the Lincoln Cliff at the end of the Ice Age. It is a much threatened habitat which rapidly dwindled following enclosure, agricultural reclamation and, more recently, sand winning. The cover sand at Messingham Heath overlies clays and gravels of the Trent valley. The majority of the site is an undulating area of sand hills supporting an open community of dry heath and scattered birch. The vegetation is dominated by common bent Agrostis capillaris, with wavy hair grass Deschampsia flexuosa, sheep’s sorrel Rumex acetosella, bell heather Erica cinerea, heather Calluna vulgaris and sand sedge Carex arenaria. Lichens are plentiful and, with the moss Polytrichum juniperinum, cover large areas. Messingham Heath is noted for the occurrence of the grayling butterfly. Other Information During the 1990 revision a small area of land was removed from the site. * Under Section 23 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949.

Species mentioned

Show the 7 species mentioned in the description, with red-list status

English name search for this in other sites	Latin name search with Google	IUCN / Red List	Type	Family
common bent	Agrostis capillaris	LC	grass	poaceae
wavy hair grass	Deschampsia flexuosa	Not listed in GB list	grass	poaceae
sheep's sorrel	Rumex acetosella	NT	herb	polygonaceae
juniper hair cap	Polytrichum juniperinum	LC	moss	polytrichales
sand sedge	Carex arenaria	LC	sedge	cyperaceae
bell heather or ling	Calluna vulgaris	NT	shrub dwarf	ericaceae
bell heather	Erica cinerea	NT	shrub dwarf	ericaceae

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.

Species	Status	Via host-plant
Shoulder-striped clover Heliothis maritima	Endangered	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea
Fiery clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis	Endangered	Rumex acetosella
Broom moth Ceramica pisi	Vulnerable	Calluna vulgaris, Rumex spp.
Satyr pug Eupithecia satyrata	Vulnerable	Calluna vulgaris
Garden dart Euxoa nigricans	Vulnerable	Rumex spp.
True lover's knot Lycophotia porphyrea	Vulnerable	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea
Silver studded blue Plebejus argus	Vulnerable	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea
Pale eggar Trichiura crataegi	Vulnerable	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea
Flounced chestnut Agrochola helvola	Near Threatened	Calluna vulgaris
Beaded chestnut Agrochola lychnidis	Near Threatened	Rumex spp.
Grey chi Antitype chi	Near Threatened	Rumex spp.
Garden tiger Arctia caja	Near Threatened	Rumex spp.
The sallow Cirrhia icteritia	Near Threatened	Rumex spp.
Small heath Coenonympha pamphilus	Near Threatened	Agrostis spp.
Grey scalloped Dyscia fagaria	Near Threatened	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea
Autumnal rustic Eugnorisma glareosa	Near Threatened	Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea, Rumex spp.
Weaver's wave Idaea contiguaria	Near Threatened	Calluna vulgaris
Wall Lasiommata megera	Near Threatened	Agrostis spp.
Dark-barred twin-spot carpet Xanthorhoe ferrugata	Near Threatened	Rumex spp.

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.