Winter work at Stockton Cutting

By Ben Coleman, Grassland Specialist Ranger

Stockton Cutting, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and former railway cutting that sits approximately one mile north of Stockton village, was taken back under direct management of Warwickshire Country Parks after 40 years of successful Warwickshire Wildlife Trust custodianship in 2023. The site supports one of the few tracts of Limestone Lias Grassland in the county with significant uncommon and rare species associated with it.

Ranger George, supported by both our Ryton Pools and Ufton Fields volunteers, has been leading efforts to further enhance the site by the removal of sections of encroaching scrub to allow the recovery of the calcicole (lime-loving) seedbank in these areas. This vital work should see further expansion of the populations of these plants into new areas. Historically, six species of Orchid have been recorded in the area, and we hope to find all these species in our cutting during survey work in 2025. Other rare species include Hairy Violet, False Oxlip, Yellow-wort, Autumn Gentian and Blue Fleabane.

This special habitat also supports a very important range of invertebrates, including a suite of important butterfly species such as Dingy and Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, and the range-limited Small Blue which thrives on limestone soils where it’s caterpillar foodplant, Kidney Vetch, grows. We hope to recover the now lost population of the latter species along the section of the site we now manage. In addition, this work will support more forage and habitat for the rare Big-headed Mining Bee (Andrena bucephala) which only has a handful of known colonies in Warwickshire, alongside hopes to expand the Gold-fringed Mason Bee (Osmia aurulenta) population found at the site, an extremely rare species only found inland on limestone lias soils away from the coast.

The site has also historically supported the rare Chalk Carpet Moth (Scotopteryx bipunctaria) which is only found at two locations in Warwickshire.

A huge thank you to our hard-working volunteers in helping tackle this important work!

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