Tilton Cutting NR
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
Site species count:
Tilton Cutting covers 3.1 ha and is owned by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. This is a Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and is the best site in the East Midlands for demonstrating the sequence of rocks laid down about 180 million years ago.
Tilton Cutting was dug in the 1870s for the railway from Melton Mowbray to Market Harborough. Trains passed through the cutting from 1879 until 1965 when the line was closed and the rails were lifted. Following closure, tall, dense scrub very quickly invaded the cutting, which was purchased by the Wildlife Trust in 1983. Habitats include scrub, tall herbs, rough grassland with ant hills, marsh and vertical rock outcrops. Wildlife interest of the reserve includes a wide range of the more common small birds including great, coal and blue tits, willow warbler, robin and other members of the thrush family. The floor of the cutting supports a fairly rich flora including cowslip, square-stemmed St John's-wort and a variety of grasses, sedges and rushes.
Can be wet underfoot in winter.
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