Harton Hollow

A pretty wood situated on an ancient barrier reef.

Location

On Wenlock Edge, 4 miles north-east of Craven Arms
SY7 9LG

OS Map Reference

SO 47914 87490
What3words: lifters.stubbed.pampering
A static map of Harton Hollow

Know before you go

Size
3 hectares
z

Entry fee

No
P

Parking information

The car park is located along the lane from Westhope to Harton.

Grazing animals

None

Access

Accessibility: Red

An open site with no obstructions. Trails are not surfaced and can become muddy and slippery due to the underlying geology. This is part of Wenlock Edge and so is a steep-sided, wooded slope.

Dogs

Dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

April to July, September to November

About the reserve

Walk in the woods along Wenlock Edge and you tread on an ancient barrier reef. Plants such as herb paris, sanicle and sweet woodruff grow here because they thrive on the limestone that formed from the fossilised remains of those ancient shelled creatures, making this one of the richest stands of woodland in the county.

Multitudes of corals and other shelled beings lived here 400 million years ago, in a warm clear sea, when this bit of land destined to become Shropshire lay in the southern tropics. As part of the Marches Way, footpaths twist and turn through the wind-blown woodlands along the top of the Edge, much of which is owned by the National Trust.

Getting to Harton Hollow

Harton Hollow is a small section of the woods north of Westhope and south of Harton on the brow of the ridge. From the car park a footpath takes you between gnarled, mossy trees and into the nature reserve, on to a lane and back up into the woods again.  

Contact us

Location map

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