Ashby Ville Nature Reserve

Ashby Ville, also known as Lakeside, is one of 17 designated Local Nature Reserves in North Lincolnshire. Once a sand and gravel quarry, it has transformed into a thriving wildlife haven. The nutrient-poor, free-draining sandy soils are ideal for nectar-rich wildflowers like Viper’s Bugloss, Bird’s-foot Trefoil, and Smooth Cat’s-ear. The site’s industrial past has shaped a unique landscape of mounds, hollows, and disturbed soils, now home to a dynamic mosaic of bare ground, wildflower meadows, scrub, and woodland. This diversity supports rare invertebrates with complex life cycles that rely on having multiple habitats—such as open ground for nesting and wildflowers for feeding—close together.

Wildlife

Ashby Ville offers a rich variety of habitats—wetlands, grasslands, scrub, and woodland—supporting a wide range of wildlife throughout the year.

• Woodlands: Home to English Oak, Elm, Elder, and Birch, providing shelter and food for birds like Tawny and Long-eared Owls, Green Woodpeckers, Pied Wagtails, Robins, and Blackbirds.
• Wetlands: Attract Canada and Greylag Geese, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Little Grebes, Mute Swans, and Reed Buntings. The waters also host 13 species of fish including Carp, Rudd, Chub, and Pike, as well as frogs, toads, and freshwater invertebrates.
• Mammals: Squirrels, rabbits, pygmy and common shrews, and water voles can be spotted across the reserve.
• Bats: Common Pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bats are active at dusk.
• Butterflies: Up to 20 species in warmer months, including the Comma, Wall, Peacock, Skippers, Small Copper, and the locally rare Grayling.
• Flora: Hundreds of plant species thrive in the acid grasslands, woodlands, and ponds. Look out for Foxglove, Evening Primrose, Wild Strawberry, Yarrow, and Broom.