Camley Street Natural Park
| Camley Street Natural Park | |
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IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
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| Location | King's Cross |
| Nearest city | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°32′8.08″N -0°7′41.3″W / 51.5355778°N 0.128139°WCoordinates: 51°32′8.08″N -0°7′41.3″W / 51.5355778°N 0.128139°W |
| Area | 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres) |
| Governing body | London Wildlife Trust |
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Camley Street Natural Park is an urban nature reserve in King's Cross in central London and within the London Borough of Camden. It is a local nature reserve.
Comprising 0.8 hectares (2 acres) of land on the banks of the Regent's Canal – by St Pancras Lock and adjoining St Pancras Basin, the park is both a sanctuary for wildlife and an educational centre, forming "a lovely oasis".
It is run by the London Wildlife Trust. A visitors' centre caters for casual visitors and school parties, though tours must be booked.
In shape the park is a narrow strip of land bounded by the canal, Camley Street and Goods Way. The entrance is through an ornate gate on Camley Street.
Admission to the park is free. Its opening hours and days change with the funding it is able to win.
A variety of habitats co-exist in the park's small environs, including wetlands, meadow and woodland, which attract insects, amphibians, birds, and at least six species of mammal.
Over 300 higher plants have been found at the site; highlights include common broomrape (Orobanche minor), hairy buttercup (Ranunculus sardous) and common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).
The site is divided into the following habitats:
Meadow herbs include white clover and poppy.
Woodland trees include hazel, rowan, hawthorn and silver birch. Hazel and willow are coppiced regularly. Woodland herbs include lesser celandine and wild violet.
Marshland herbs include marsh marigold, greater pond sedge, pendulous sedge, reed, bogbean, mallow and yellow iris. Marsh-nesting birds include reed bunting, moorhen, coot and reed warbler.
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Wikipedia