This page enables you to search for some of the best places to see wildlife in Leicestershire and Rutland. It's not comprehensive but we will keep adding new sites as we find more suitable sites. If you have a favourite site that you would like to see added, let us know. Did you know we can also set up Wild Place pages for private sites such as gardens, farms and company grounds?
To explore the Wild Places of Leicestershire and Rutland:
zoom into the map and click on any site to show its details below
use the filters below to find sites in your district or parish
type any part of the site name to search for a particular site
Just click on APPLY when you have entered your selection. Alternatively you can browse the full list below.
Key:Wild Places (outlined in orange); Public Rights of Way (green); county boundaries (blue), parish boundaries (lilac)
Map Key: Wild Places (outlined in red); Public Rights of Way (green); VC55 boundary (blue)
Ancient woodland covering 55 ha. but now planted with conifers. It seems likely that it was an Ash-Maple wood, with a rich flora, including Some of the rides are wide and valuable features.
This 33 hectare site is ancient woodland and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It stands on Keuper Marl and Boulder Clay and is one of the most floristically rich sites in the county. In the past it was a larger site standing on Carboniferous Limestone but this has since been quarried out. The woodland was clear-felled around the time of World War II but was allowed to regenerate naturally. It was donated to the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in 1993 by Ennstone Breedon plc. The Trust has now reinstigated coppice management in parts of the site.
This attractive 6 hectare wood was planted in 1991 on the site of the former 'Bug and Wink' colliery. It is well maintained by the Coleorton and New Lount Volunteers. Picnic benches and seats are scattered through the site. It is popular with local dog walkers. There are good footpaths to and from the surrounding countryside.
This site includes 120 acres of young woodland in amongst a popular nature discovery centre. The National Forest Charitable Trust is the Trust that owns Conkers has the wider objective of reclaiming derelict industrial landscapes, planting trees, creating recreational forests and parkland for the local and regional communities.
Cossington Meadows covers 86 ha and is the largest of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust's six nature reserves in the Soar valley. The area was quarried for gravel during the 1980s and 1990s, the pits then being filled and the area relandscaped, with several deep holes in the north of the site filling with water to form lakes. The Trust has created new wader scrapes and grazes the grassland areas.
This verge is being managed to improve biodiversity as part of the County Council/Parish Council verges biodiversity trial. It was surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot volunteers but we would welcome additional wildlife records from the community, whether plants, animals or fungi.
Designated a Local Wildlife Site in 2005, the verge is located on the track running up to the entrance to Cottesmore Airfield by Thistleton village, and is 394 metres in length. The main habitat is mesotrophic grassland.
This verge is on the western approach into Cottesmore on the B668. It is backed by a mature hedge (mainly Hawthorn, Elder and Blackthorn). Three sizeable trees are located along the verge, two Pedunculate (English) Oaks and a Sycamore at the eastern end.
The verge is being managed to improve biodiversity by managing it as a wildflower meadow so it can support a much greater variety of wildlife species.
This verge is located on Greetham Road at the north-east edge of the village. It is approximately 200m in length and is 5-6m wide. A 1m ‘visibility strip’ is close mown adjacent to the carriageway. A native and well-managed hedge lies at the rear of the verge, comprising mainly Hawthorn, Elder, Ash and Blackthorn.
The verge is being managed to improve biodiversity by managing it as a wildflower meadow so it can support a much greater variety of wildlife species.
This area of public open space, a rectangle of roughly 0.6 hectares, is located next to Main Street. It has been regularly mown for many years but the intention is to now establish a meadow strip of approximately 3-4m width around the periphery to improve biodiversity by managing it as a wildflower meadow so it can support a much greater variety of wildlife.
Countesthorpe Country Park has 13.5 acres of green space. The Country Park was created at the same time as the neighbouring housing estate. It is located in the village of Countesthorpe. Improvements have taken place around the park to make space enjoyable for visitors and local residents, including the creation of hard-surfaced paths. The park provides improved connectivity for Countesthorpe and is within walking distance of Blaby Town Centre.
This verge is being managed to improve biodiversity as part of the County Council/Parish Council verges biodiversity trial. It was surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot volunteers but we would welcome additional wildlife records from the community, whether plants, animals or fungi.
Mixed habitat including some 4 hectares of deciduous woodland with areas of open grassland leading onto approximately 1 hectare of the Flood Retention area to the west. Sketchley Brook flows along the full southern length of the site plus an additional inflow from the north feeding the permanent wetland, sloping from north to south.
This thin strip of woodland is squeezed between the houses and Covert Lane. A path runs through the spinney providing easy access. It is believed to be a long-established woodland and part of the former Scraptoft Hall estate.
This woodland was once part of the Scraptoft Hall estate and is believed to be long-standing. Within the woodland there is a ruined grotto known locally as the witches cave.
A public footpath traverses the centre of the woodland and the site is well visited by local people.
