Donington Park

Also within

Derbyshire CountyLeicestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Bracken scrub, Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Triassic

Description

Area, 37.4 ha. 92.4 ac. Description The site comprises a medieval deer park which contains a fine population of ancient oak trees possessing a rich associated invertebrate fauna, including a number of rare and uncommon species. Biology Donington Park is mentioned in the Domesday Book and for its recorded history has been managed as a deer park. It is sited on a generally north facing slope overlooking the River Trent. Its soils are derived from the clays, silts, and sandstones of the Triassic Keuper Marl and Keuper Waterstones series and vary in texture and soil moisture content. The ground vegetation generally comprises a short grass sward although, locally, areas dominated by bracken Pteridium aquilinum occur. The Park contains a fine population of ancient oaks Quercus robur, together with numbers of mature lime Tilia sp and sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus. Old bushes of hawthorn Crataegus monogyna are also present together with a few old false acacia Robinia pseudoacacia. Associated with the old oaks is a rich and characteristic invertebrate fauna which includes many species restricted to habitats containing very old and decaying trees. The beetle fauna contains a number of uncommon species including Dorcatoma chrysomelina, Lissodema cursor and Scymnus femoralis, while among the bugs present Pilophorus perplexus, a southern species in Britain, is rare in Leicestershire. The spider fauna is also notable and includes the rare spiders Midia midas and Mastigusa macrophthalma. The ancient trees have additional value in that they provide suitable breeding habitat for a variety of hole nesting birds.

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