The Ercall and Lawrence’s Hill

Declared as a Local Nature Reserve in 1999, this Ancient oak woodland, spectacular views and more than 500 million years of history can be enjoyed here in 66.7 hectares of space. Little sister to the famous Wrekin it may be, but the Ercall has its own grandeur.

Human activity is dramatically evident in the huge chunk blasted out of the hillside to provide road stone for the nearby A5. Destructive this certainly was, but it had the unexpectedly wonderful effect of laying bare the earth's history; revealing rocks from the earliest beginnings of life on this planet.

Things to see and do

The Ercall and Lawrence’s Hill forms part of the wider Limekiln Wood, once part of the Royal Forest of Wrekin, and is one of the most botanically interesting woods in Telford, supporting a range of limestone flora.

The internationally important geological site, which is part of the Wrekin and the Ercall Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) includes 540 million old ripple beds and ancient precambrain lava flows in quarries.

The ancient woodland is full of bluebells in spring, flowering spikes of orchids and the sheltered grassland in the quarry floors can be good for spotting butterflies. Woodland birds abound all year round - look out for redstarts in the breeding season. Ash trees form much of the tree canopy, along with oak and sycamore, with hazel and hawthorn providing the understory.

How to get there

View the location of The Ercall and Lawrence’s Hill on Google Maps:

Address

Adjacent to the Wrekin Site of Special Scientific Interest
Limekiln Lane
Wellington
Telford
TF1 2JU

Parking

The Reserve can be accessed via the entrance to the Ercall nature reserve. Leave the M54 at Junction 7, turning onto the B5061 towards the Wrekin. Turn left onto Ercall Lane and the entrance to the reserve is along this road.

Alternatively, from the Shrewsbury direction, turn left off the A5 on to the B5061 Hollyhead Road, heading for Wellington. Turn right at the traffic lights by the Cock Hotel onto the Dawley Road and right again onto Bayley Road (before the bridge crossing the motorway). Then take a left onto Limekiln Lane, leading to Steeraway. You are then next to the woods themselves.

Last updated: 16/06/2023 10:13