Gibraltar Point NNR
Parish: Wainfleet St Mary and Croft
OS: 122 • GR: TF 556581 • Map ref: 22
437.40 hectares (1080.90acres) • Part leasehold, part freehold 1949
Habitat type: Coastland
Visitor Centre
The Visitor Centre is the ideal place to start or end your visit to this internationally important nature reserve. Explore the habitats of the reserve using the interactive and audio-visual displays of the Wild Coast Exhibition, learn more about the environment in the Nature Discovery Room, relax and enjoy delicious food and drink in The Point Cafe, sit back and enjoy the views from The Look-out and browse for great gifts in the Gift Shop.
See the events pages for guided walks, children's activities, day and residential training courses.
The Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre Opening Times
1st April - 31st October: everyday from 10am to 5pm.
1st Nov - 31st March: weekdays from 11am to 3pm, weekends from 11am to 4pm.
- Please note: During very bad weather, the visitor centre and cafe may close early.
- Admission to the visitor centre and the reserve is free. Car Parking charges apply, seasonal car park tickets are available. All groups must be booked in.
The re-development of the Visitor Centre Wash Study Centre in 2006 was been funded by Lincolnshire Enterprise's European Regional Development Fund and Single Programme, Lincolnshire County Council, the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme money of Waste Recycling Group Ltd (administered by WREN) and Centrica.
Wash Study Centre
The Wash Study Centre offers accommodation for both educational and adult groups to stay at Gibraltar Point. With a range of activities on offer or simply as a place for your group to relax, we can cater for your needs. The centre has residential accommodation for up to 36 people in single, twin-bedded and larger rooms, as well as a laboratory, classroom and library facilities.
See the education pages for further information.
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve
The Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve is managed by the Trust on long leases from Lincolnshire County Council (367 hectares: 907 acres) and from East Lindsey District Council (60.7 hectares: 150 acres).
Location and Access
The reserve lies between Skegness and the estuary of the River Steeping, which rises in the Wolds as the River Lymn, often known as Wainfleet Haven at this point.
There are two car parks on Gibraltar Road. The main car park, adjacent to the Visitor Centre, is the largest. A charge is made for the car parks all year round. There is also an access point at Seacroft Esplanade at the southern end of Skegness (TF 566610)
There is open public access to most of the reserve, but byelaws are in force. Certain sanctuary areas, which may vary from time to time, are designated, and all visitors are asked to respect these.
Within the Visitor Centre there are displays showing the history, habitats and wildlife of the reserve, and a range of gifts, books, stationery and educational items is on sale. The adjoining residential Wash Study Centre with its bird observatory is maintained by the Trust. A prospectus is obtainable on request from the Centre.
The Wash View Point - a converted wartime gun emplacement - is situated 400 yards to the south of the Field Station and is open at all times. Members may also visit Syke's Farm, which is not open to the public. A small hide overlooks Lambert's Pond. From the main car park walk back along the road and, immediately after crossing the sea bank (The Hump), turn left through the gate. There is a waymarked route that returns to the road a short distance to the north.
Many of the walkways are suitable for disabled persons, and both the Visitor Centre and the toilets have wheelchair access.
Dogs may be taken on short leads to parts of the Reserve but are not permitted on the beach from 1 April to 1 September.
Description and Management
Within this reserve are the most extensive sand dunes on the Lincolnshire coast, and accretion of wave-built ridges roughly parallel to the coast is still proceeding rapidly. Between the ridges strips of saltmarsh are formed and are eventually reached only by the highest spring tides.
From aerial photographs and maps this pattern of accretion can be traced back to the early part of the last century. The Western Dunes, alongside the public road, were in existence when the first 1-inch Ordnance Survey map was made in 1825, but they were then the frontal dunes. A second ridge about 500m seawards, known as the East Dunes, began to develop 100 years ago, and at the southern end a long spit extends towards the river outfall. In the shelter of the spit a new saltmarsh has developed during the last 30 years. This now extends as far as Wainfleet Haven. Beyond the East Dunes a further ridge is being built up causing more mud and saltmarsh to accrete.
To the south, outside the reserve, some of the most extensive sand and mudflats and saltmarshes in Britain stretch southwards into the Wash.
All the stages in colonisation and stabilisation of sand and mud by plants can be seen in the reserve, and there are splendid examples of succession of vegetation. The mobile dunes support early colonisers, such as sea rocket, prickly saltwort, sand couch, marram and lyme grass. The older dunes are much more varied, with sand fescues, sand sedge and a variety of other plants, including bird's-foot trefoil, lady's bedstraw and dense scrub of sea-buckthorn, which is better represented here than anywhere else in Britain.
On saltmarshes the first colonists of bare mud, such as glasswort (locally known as samphire) and sea-blite, give place to marshes dominated by sea meadow-grass, sea-purslane and sea-lavender. In areas less frequently reached by the tides there is sea wormwood, rock sea-lavender, sea-milkwort, sea-spurreys and other less common species.
In the succession of both dune and saltmarsh rare plants occur. Among these on the newer dunes are sea-holly and sea bindweed, and at the edges of older dunes are slender centaury, knotted pearlwort and sea-heath. On the northern limit of the plant's range in Europe, a few specimens of shrubby sea-blite also occur.
North of the Mere is the Freshwater Marsh, which can be viewed from Mill Pond Road, where a wealth of wildflowers can be seen, including pyramidal orchids in profusion, and marsh-mallow.
The fauna of the reserve is exceedingly diverse. The open shore - an inhospitable looking habitat - has vast populations of invertebrate animals, such as lugworm, the peppery furrow-shell, the tiny spire shell Hydrobia ulvae, and the little shrimp-like Corophium. On the dunes are insects of many kinds. Resident butterflies include the uncommon green hairstreak, and there are many moths of seaside habitats, such as the coast and sand darts and the scarce pug. Hunting wasps, robber flies and many kinds of spiders add to the variety.
Among larger animals, water shrew, harvest mouse and yellow-necked mouse have been recorded, and amphibians are present in the freshwater pools north of Mill Pond Road. The Natterjack toad has recently been successfully re-introduced after an absence of around 80 years.
It is the birds, however, that are the most conspicuous animals of the reserve. The sandy foreshore provides one of the few regular nesting sites on the Lincolnshire coast for the little tern. There are about 50 pairs of ringed plover, and smaller numbers of redshank and shelduck. The marshes and sea buckthorn scrub hold a high breeding population of small passerines: surveys have shown high densities of 35 species.
Migration brings great numbers of passage migrants, including many rarities, while in winter brent goose, snow bunting, twite, fieldfare, redwing and other northern immigrants feed in the reserve. The sand spits and dune ridges provide a high tide roost for many thousands of waders that fly in from the Wash to await the ebb. The freshwater Mere and the 4-acre brackish scrape, called Fenland Lagoon, have been created to provide additional bird habitats.
There is a viewing hide at the Mere and two hides at the Fenland Lagoon. These are most easily reached along the Mill Pond Road from the North Car Park.
The principal management problem of the reserve is to reconcile its intensive use for education and public enjoyment with the conservation of its wealth of plants and animals and natural features. Educational use is carefully planned, public access is regulated by bye-laws, car parks are provided adjoining the public road and tracks are well made and defined. There are full-time and voluntary wardens, and one of the main purposes of the interpretive programme is to enlist the interest and cooperation of visitors in conservation measures.
The effects of human pressure on the flora and fauna of the reserve are constantly monitored. The freshwater marsh and parts of the dunes are grazed by cattle and sheep. Recent habitat improvements have included the dredging of ponds and borrow-pits and the clearing of buckthorn scrub in order to extend areas of dune grassland and dune slack.
Former arable land, now known as Jackson's Marsh and Croft Marsh, has been transformed into wetland and pasture. There are excellent viewing facilities from hides overlooking these areas.
For more information see: "The Principal Reserves - Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve"
