Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry

Also within

Leicestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Carboniferous · Rock Type: Carboniferous Limestone, Glacial Till, Limestone

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Area,63.4 hectares 156.6 ac Description Cloud Wood is an ancient semi natural woodland of a type which is now scarce in lowland Britain. It supports a ground flora that is exceptionally diverse and includes several species which are rare in Leicestershire. Cloud Quarry is a nationally important geological locality. Biological Cloud Wood lies on deposits of Keuper Marl and Boulder Clay which overlie the Carboniferous Limestone on the upper slopes of Cloud Hill. The canopy is largely dominated by ash Fraxinus excelsior and pedunculate oak Quercus robur, although silver birch Betula pendula is locally abundant. Coppice species include wych elm Ulmus glabra, hazel Corylus avellana, field maple Acer campestre, dogwood Cornus sanguinea and in places, small leaved lime Tilia cordata. Variations in soil moisture and pH are reflected by the richness and variety of the ground flora. Dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis and woodruff Galium odoratum are locally dominant. Tufted hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa, bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta, moschatel Adoxa moschatellina, wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, giant bellflower Campanula latifolia, pendulous sedge Carex pendula, yellow archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon, wood sorrel Oxalis acetosella and wood speedwell Veronica montana are all locally frequent. Several species of orchid are present including broad leaved helleborine Epipactis helleborine, early purple orchid Orchis mascula and violet helleborine Epipactis purpurata, which is at the extreme north eastern limit of its British range. Geological The Breedon Cloud Quarry complex exposes an attenuated Dinantian Lower Carboniferous succession which was deposited in shallow seas on the northern margin of the Wales Brabant Massif. These strata, ranging in age between the Tournaisian and the Asbian, include a variety of limestones and dolomites, with bioherms and with shelly faunas. Megaspores have been extracted from the ancient sediments here, proving the proximity of this area to land at that time. This is a key site for studies of early Carboniferous paleogeography, sediments and faunas.

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.