Fir Hill Quarry
Parish: Little Cawthorpe
OS: 122 • GR: TF 362828 • Map ref: 68
0.40 hectares (1.10acres) • Freehold l982
Habitat type: Grassland
Location and Access
Fir Hill Quarry is a small chalk pit situated on the west side of the road between Little Cawthorpe and Muckton, some 4 km (2.5 miles) south of Louth. There is limited space for parking at the roadside. Please do not climb the scree slopes of loose chalk.
Description and Management
The reserve is on the line of the old marine cliff that formed the eastern edge of the chalk before the Ice Ages. There is a fine view over the Marsh to the sea from the road. The road is an extension of Barton Street, a prehistoric trackway that follows the edge of the chalk Wolds from the Humber to the Wash. The chalk pit has been quarried at two levels. The upper level is wooded with ash and wych elm, although most of the latter has succumbed to Dutch elm disease. The lower level has grassy banks, with salad burnet, marjoram, wild basil, pyramidal orchid, common spotted-orchid and other chalk plants. Like most flowery chalk pits it is a haven for most of the common butterflies.
Management consists largely of scrub control and mowing.
