Castlehead Wood

Also within

Cumbria County LAKE DISTRICT National Park

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Volcanic / Igneous

Description

Area, 7.99 hectares 19.74 ac Description Castlehead Wood is located one kilometre south of Keswick at the northern end of Borrowdale. It has developed on a low hill with an intrusion of igneous rocks which gives rise to mainly acidic soils. The Borrowdale valley is noted for its very marked rainfall gradient, with around 180 cm of rain falling annually at Keswick compared with 320 cm at Seathwaite only 11 kilometres to the south. The range of semi natural deciduous woodlands found along this gradient is of international importance. The woodland at Castlehead, which has developed at the drier end of the spectrum, is dominated by sessile oak with a birch and hazel understorey. Further up the valley the woodlands are characterised by the abundance of moisture loving 'oceanic' mosses and liverworts but these are much less common at Castlehead. The wood has not been significantly affected by grazing in contrast to many other western oak woods and this has allowed a good shrub and field layer to develop. Common constituents of the latter include pignut Conopodium majus, greater wood rush Luzula sylvatica, wood sage Teucrium scorodonia and wood anemone Anemone nemorosa. On the north side of the wood the soils are more base rich and the woodland is of an ash wych elm type, with some yew. Part of the wood has been modified by the planting of introduced species, particularly beech, sycamore and larch. The lichen flora of Castlehead Wood is of considerable interest as it has similarities to a southern, lowland assemblage and includes species such as Rinodina roboris which here is at its northern limit.

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.