Nature Reserves IN THE AREA
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Seaton Wetlands Nature Reserve
Please note that no dogs are allowed, other than guide dogs. Seaton Wetlands is made up of four main sites – Seaton Marshes, Black Hole Marsh, Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh. There are five bird hides and nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks suitable for wheelchair, bike and pushchairs. Seaton Marshes Local Nature Reserve is a freshwater grazing marsh, with scrapes, ditches, the Borrow Pit Pond and a bird hide. The area attracts considerable wildlife interest, from wildfowl and wading birds in the winter to dragonflies and butterflies in the summer. Otters have been spotted at the Borrow Pit Pond and this area is managed by the Wild East Devon team on behalf of Axe Vale and District Conservation Society. Black Hole Marsh was created in 2008. This intertidal lagoon attracts breeding oystercatchers and is now well populated with crustaceans and molluscs that support a wide range of wildfowl and waders. Birds to be seen regularly include dunlin, black-tailed godwit and ringed plover. The Tower Hide gives panoramic 360 degree views over the lagoon and estuary. Look out for kingfishers, otters, and in August, the occasional osprey. |
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Colyford Common Local Nature Reserve is regularly flooded by high tides, so this salt-marsh has very unusual flora and fauna, supporting many locally rare and nationally important species. Little egrets fish in the creeks and lagoons on the estuary and large black and white shelduck can be seen grazing here. Wheatears and pipits flit across the common. The Colyford Common bird hide offers fantastic views across the upper reaches of the estuary and surrounding saltmarsh. There is also a viewing platform further north which gives great views of waders such as curlew in winter.
Stafford Marsh has a wildlife garden and benches where you can enjoy a picnic. The Discovery Hut, where you can find out more about the site, hire pond dipping equipment and grab a coffee is normally staffed by volunteers from 10am to 4pm Saturday to Monday in term time and throughout the school holidays. There is a hide overlooking the scrapes on Colyford Common, where kingfishers, water rail and snipe are often seen.
Site toilets are situated here.
How to get there:
Seaton Wetlands is 6 miles west of Lyme Regis and 8 miles east of Sidmouth, between Colyford and Seaton.
To access Black Hole Marsh, Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh, use the main car park: In the middle of Colyford village on the A3052 follow the brown tourism sign onto the Seaton Road. After half a mile turn left into Seaton Cemetery, continue through to the Seaton Wetlands car park.
For Seaton Marshes continue past Seaton cemetery and take the left turn immediately after Seaton Football Club into Hillymead. Pass Axe Vale Static Caravan Park entrance on your left and head down the hill. Park diagonally in the spaces opposite the water treatment plant, with the front of your car as near to the fence as possible. The nearest postcode is EX12 2DF. This part of the reserve can be easily accessed from Seaton via foot, using the footpath next to the Underfleet play park.
Stafford Marsh has a wildlife garden and benches where you can enjoy a picnic. The Discovery Hut, where you can find out more about the site, hire pond dipping equipment and grab a coffee is normally staffed by volunteers from 10am to 4pm Saturday to Monday in term time and throughout the school holidays. There is a hide overlooking the scrapes on Colyford Common, where kingfishers, water rail and snipe are often seen.
Site toilets are situated here.
How to get there:
Seaton Wetlands is 6 miles west of Lyme Regis and 8 miles east of Sidmouth, between Colyford and Seaton.
To access Black Hole Marsh, Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh, use the main car park: In the middle of Colyford village on the A3052 follow the brown tourism sign onto the Seaton Road. After half a mile turn left into Seaton Cemetery, continue through to the Seaton Wetlands car park.
For Seaton Marshes continue past Seaton cemetery and take the left turn immediately after Seaton Football Club into Hillymead. Pass Axe Vale Static Caravan Park entrance on your left and head down the hill. Park diagonally in the spaces opposite the water treatment plant, with the front of your car as near to the fence as possible. The nearest postcode is EX12 2DF. This part of the reserve can be easily accessed from Seaton via foot, using the footpath next to the Underfleet play park.
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Trinity Hill Local Nature Reserve
Trinity Hill is a large area of lowland heath, lying two miles outside the town of Axminster. The reserve is a fine example of heathland with many interesting and unusual plants and animals. During the day, moths lie-up in the heathers waiting for nightfall, and look out for linnets singing from tall shrubs on the heath in the late summer. Much of the surrounding area has been taken over by forestry and turned into coniferous plantation, but Trinity Hill remains a beautiful natural oasis in this evergreen desert. How to get there: From Axminster take the A35 towards Lyme Regis. Just before Raymond’s Hill turn right along Trinity Hill Road. After one kilometre, the car park for the nature reserve is on your left. |
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Holyford Woods Local Nature Reserve
Holyford Woods is a beautiful woodland, nestled in a picturesque valley near Seaton. In the spring the woodland floor is carpeted in bluebells and the air is filled with the aroma of wild garlic. Oak, ash and hazel abound at Holyford and birds nest in holes in trees, bats roost in handy crevices and tangled roots can provide nest sites for weasels and wood mice. A goyle, or sunken stream runs through the heart of the woodland, feeding the Stafford Brook which runs into the Axe estuary nearby at Colyford Common. Holyford Woods LNR is now being managed by EDDC’s 'Wild East Devon' Team in partnership with Axe Vale & District Conservation Society (following the dissolution of the long-standing Holyford Woodland Trust (HWT), which originally helped to purchase the wood through community fundraising). AV&DCS hold and administer the retained funds from HWT specifically for the conservation, management and enjoyment of the wood. How to get there: Driving along the A3052 from Exeter towards Seaton and Colyford, turn right just after the 40mph speed limit sign (signposted Seaton) just before the ESSO filling station. Drive a little way and park on the right-hand side of the road in the layby at the Tower Hill picnic site. To find the reserve entrance, walk back to, then carefully cross the main road. Follow the public footpath sign (opposite the Seaton turn-off), walking down the edge of the field to the entrance of the wood which is directly in front of you. |
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This link will take you to all East Devon’s Local Nature Reserves: https://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/countryside/wild-east-devon-nature-reserves/
