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Three Hagges Woodmeadow Nature Reserve

Location: York Road, Escrick, York, North Yorkshire, YO19 6EE
OS: SE 628394
What Three Words location: ///isolated.nutty.compliant

Habitat: Meadow and woodland

A roundhouse surrounded by wildflower meadow and small trees
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The Reserve

Three Hagges Woodmeadow is Plantlife’s newest reserve, building on the work started by the former Woodmeadow Trust and the local community to safeguard the space for wild plants and fungi to thrive.

Three Hagges’ name dates back to 1600, with ‘Hagges’ coming from the Old Norse name for a portion of woodland marked off for cutting or coppicing. Since 2012, the site has been nurtured by the local community with wildflower seed sown and 25 acres of 10,000 trees and shrubs planted, creating a patchwork of coppice and meadow.

The reserve has grown around the volunteers and community who have cared for it. The ‘Bodger’s Den’, a shelter built using natural materials with a fire pit at its centre, is a communal space for working and gathering. Visitors will also find a volunteer-made bee hotel on the site, which provides a home for the many solitary bees and wasps which are attracted by the wild plants on the reserve.

Habitat

Three Hagges Woodmeadow is mosaic of woodlands, copse and wildflower meadows, including a lowland wet meadow and a lowland dry meadow, and a pond.

In the Peterken Meadow, a lowland wet meadow, Greater Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus uliginosus and Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi bloom in the summer months, and in the lowland dry meadow Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra and Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare can be found alongside Lady’s Bedstraw Galium verum.

Planted by the community, the Jubilee Woodland is filled with Common Alder Alnus glutinosa, Downy Birch Betula pubescens, Hazel and Oak.

The Felix, Bones and Sessile Copse are mixed species woodlands, featuring native trees such as Small Leaved Lime Tilia cordata, English Oak Quercus robur, Hazel Corylus avellana and Sessile Oak Quercus petraea.

The Orchard is filled with fruiting trees, providing food and shelter for wildlife and wild plants alike. Blackthorn Prunus spinosa, Hawthorn Crataegus laevigata, Rowan Sorbus aucuparia and Wild cherry Prunus avium all grow here. The King’s Orchard was planted in 2022, expanding the area of fruit trees to include Apple Malus domestica, Gage Prunus domestica and many others.

Species to look out for

  • Yellow Flag Iris Iris pseudacorus May to July
  • Meadow Crane’s-bill Geranium pratense June to September
  • Wild Marjoram Origanum vulgare July to September

Visit

Map

Directions

Three Hagges Woodmeadow lies 7 miles south of York and 5 miles north of Selby.

By Car

Follow the brown sign for Hollicarrs Holiday Park and Olivia’s Tea Room and turn into Hollicarrs Holiday Park. Parking for Three Hagges Nature Reserve is on the right, after Millers Tea Room and before you reach the security barrier for Hollicarrs Holiday Park.

For Blue Badge holders there is a parking space at the entrance to the woodmeadow on the left-hand side of the drive opposite the sales office car park. Access to the woodmeadow is via a wheelchair-accessible gate.

On Foot or by Bike

Three Hagges Woodmeadow is situated just under a mile away from the village of Riccall and from the York to Selby Sustrans cycle route.  Using the cycle route, you can travel all the way from York city centre to Three Hagges on a traffic-free route.

By Bus

Arriva Bus operate a regular service (service number 415) from either Selby or York. Bus stops are situated opposite each other on the A19 at Hollicarrs.