Thixen Dale and Long Dale

Also within

East Riding of Yorkshire CountyNorth Yorkshire County Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Chalk

Description

Description The complex of valleys south of Thixendale village provides characteristic examples of a range of chalk grassland types found on the Yorkshire Wolds. On the south facing slope of Long Dale, the grassland is a mosaic of close grazed sheep's fescue Festuca ovina and lightly grazed tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum dominated turf with scattered hawthorns Crataegus monogyna. It is rich in herbs including rock rose Helianthemum nummularium, dropwort Filipendula vulgaris, kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria and clustered bellflower Campanula glomerata. red fescue F. rubra dominates the north facing slope, with tussocks of tufted hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa frequent towards the eastern end. This bank supports several chalk species at the western end, including salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba and purging flax Linum catharticum, but further east it soon becomes more acid with an unusual mixture of calcicole and calcifuge species, heath bedstraw Galium saxatile, heather Calluna vulgaris and tormentil Potentilla erecta amongst dropwort and crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha. At the northern end of the site, the east facing bank of Thixen Dale contains a higher proportion of such coarse grasses as upright brome Bromus erectus and cock's foot Dactylis glomerata, although red and sheep's fescue are also abundant. Although not as herb rich as Long Dale, this field contains frequent clustered bellflower, field scabious Knautia arvensis and lesser knapweed Centaurea nigra, with salad burnet, purging flax, greater knapweed C. scabiosa and burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga. On the opposite side of Thixen Dale the grassland at the north end is mainly rather species poor, but further south it becomes richer, with abundant rock rose, greater knapweed, saw wort Serratula tinctoria, salad burnet and field scabious as components of a community dominated by tor grass, false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius, quaking grass Briza media and red fescue. The southern half of Thixen Dale is heavily grazed, with large areas of almost pure tor grass alternating with richer 'islands' of fescue dominated turf. Bradeham Dale and Worm Dale are similar in character to Long Dale, with their strongly calcareous south/south east facing slopes supporting a tor grass fescue mosaic and the slightly more acidic north/north west facing slopes containing species such as tormentil and pignut Conopodium majus. Other Information During the 1985 revision, this site has been considerably extended and a small area deleted. * Under Section 23 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949.

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.