Riddlesdown
Know before you go
Dogs
When to visit
Opening times
Open at all timesBest time to visit
April to SeptemberAbout the reserve
Riddlesdown nature reserve is a small enclosed area of a wooded slope that forms part of a much larger area of the Riddlesdown Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); mostly owned and managed by the City of London Corporation. Riddlesdown supports the largest single expanse of old calcareous scrub in London. The Trust’s reserve within consists of a pocket of chalk grassland surrounded by a mosaic of chalk scrub of hawthorn, dogwood, hazel and whitebeam, with a developing woodland of yew, sycamore and ash. It is a valuable habitat for birds and invertebrates.
History of Riddlesdown
Thousands of years of human activity on Riddlesdown have left a range of features, including earthworks, old trackways and a Roman road. At one time common land, it was threatened with enclosure following the opening of the nearby railway in the 1850s and following the efforts of a local family, City of London Corporation purchased most of the site in 1883 for public benefit. In more recent times, livestock have grazed pasture and kept open the characteristic downland landscape. The Trust acquired the reserve in 1999 from the British Railways Board.
Management of Riddlesdown
The chalk grassland is cut each year in late summer to prevent scrub encroachment. The majority of Riddlesdown, managed by City of London Corporation rangers, is subject to grazing, hay-making and rotational coppicing.
Facilities at Riddlesdown
There are no public facilities available in the reserve. The wider Riddlesdown area has paved footpaths, wayfinding signs and a car park.
Status of Riddlesdown
Within a SSSI, Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, Metropolitan Green Belt
Volunteer with Riddlesdown's team
Contact Simon Hawkins via email shawkins@wildlondon.org.uk to find out more.
Get involved at Riddlesdown
Species
Habitat
Contact us
My Favourite Wild Place by Keeping it Wild Trainee Eden
As a Keeping it Wild Trainee based in South London, I've visited a range of nature reserves, to help facilitate a connection…
eDNA surveying with the Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum's Biodiversity Officer Katy Potts tells us more about an exciting new survey method being used for the…
Magnificent Migrants
Brilliant Butterflies Reserves Officer Anna Guerin takes a look at some of the winged wanderers from the butterfly world that undertake…