Caldon Dales

Also within

Staffordshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Carboniferous · Rock Type: Carboniferous Limestone, Limestone

Description

Area, 13.3 ha. 32.8 ac. Description Caldon Dales is a steep sided dry valley on the southern edge of the Carboniferous Limestone dome of south Derbyshire and north Staffordshire. It is the only such feature within the county of Staffordshire outside the National Park. Its importance lies in the local combination of unimproved, traditionally managed calcareous and neutral grassland, a phenomenon now rare in Staffordshire and the Midlands generally. Furthermore, the site contains one of the largest surviving examples of the meadow oat grass Avenula pratensis / sheep’s fescue Festuca ovina grassland community in Staffordshire and many of the higher plants that occur are infrequent or rare in the county. There are two valleys aligned approximately north west – south east and south west – northeast, providing slopes of varied gradient with contrasting aspects and soils. The valley sides are largely covered by meadow oat grass – sheep’s fescue grassland. These grasses along with quaking grass Briza media, crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha, spring sedge Carex caryophyllea and glaucous sedge Carex flacca, mouse ear hawkweed Pilosella officinarum, fairy flax Linum catharticum, common bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata and salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba are most characteristic of this community at Caldon. Slopes influenced by down wash of less calcareous material and/or subject to heavy cattle grazing have a coarser, often tussocky sward with additional grasses such as cock’s foot Dactylis glomerata, crested dog’s tail Cynosurus cristatus and creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera. Herbs associated with these situations include common knapweed Centaurea nigra, yarrow Achillea millefolium, devil’s bit scabious Succisa pratensis and greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha. A species rich turf occurs on the shallower, strongly calcareous soils on southerly aspects, sometimes in proximity to rock outcrops. Mosses are frequent, occasionally abundant. Many herbs having a preference for these localities are present, e.g. common rock rose Helianthemum nummularium, burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga, small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, carline thistle Carlina vulgaris and kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria. Two nationally restricted species are also recorded from this area; spring cinquefoil Potentilla tabernaemontani and limestone bedstraw Galium sterneri, the latter at the southern edge of its English distribution. Alongside the grazed valley sides are a group of fields managed alternately as permanent pastures and hay meadows. Those parts least modified by agricultural treatment are included in the SSSI. They consist of a type of neutral grassland generally restricted to calcareous bedrock in the British lowlands and now nationally scarce. The plant community contains many of the aforementioned grasses and sedges together with red fescue Festuca rubra and common bent Agrostis capillaris. Herb species are abundant, with a prominent cover of common bird’s foot trefoil, cat’s ear Hypochaeris radicata, rough hawkbit Leontodon hispidus, hoary plantain Plantago media and bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus, along with adder’s tongue Ophioglossum vulgatum and early purple orchid Orchis mascula. The range of floristic variation exhibited within a small area enhances the site’s value for the study and appreciation of the relationships between plants and their environment. This floristic diversity is reflected in the numerous county rarities present including rue leaved saxifrage Saxifraga tridactylites, grass of Parnassus Parnassia palustris, autumn gentian Gentianella amarella ssp. amarella and melancholy thistle Cirsium heterophyllum – here near the southern edge of its English range. Though the grassland invertebrates have not been assessed, an indication of site quality is afforded by a vigorous population of cystus forrester Adscita geryon, a nationally uncommon day flying moth.

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.