Swaddywell Pit’s status as a County Wildlife Site (CWS) has been further enhanced.
Not content with qualifying on four criteria, the site now exceeds nine separate criteria for designation as a CWS. The news follows further recent surveys by the Wildlife Trust,
These new criteria include:
supporting locally frequent numbers of six or more strong calcareous grassland indicator species – The Wildlife Trust surveys in 2024 identified 14 calcareous indicator species, of which 8 are ‘strong’ indicators and of these 6 are at least locally frequent in abundance. The best areas within the site for these are the Top Field, the large car park and a scree slope on the northern side of the quarry.
supporting more than 50 grassland species – a total of 87 grassland plants were recorded during the Wildlife Trust surveys in 2024. Of these, 69 were recorded in Top Field and 58 in the quarry, meaning that both parts of the site would qualify on their own. It is likely with other records taken into account that these totals would rise further.
supporting populations of Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable species of butterfly – Swaddywell has well-known populations of both Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae and Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus which have both been red-listed as Vulnerable since 2022. Grizzled Skipper has been recorded on site every year since 2015, with the exception of 2019, and Small Heath has been known on site since at least 2008 and recorded in most years. The habitat to support both of these species is present and well-developed, with plenty of early nectaring sources and caterpillar food plants.
having an invertebrate index exceeding 500 – It’s worth noting that Swaddywell’s invertebrate index doesn’t just exceed 500 – it smashes it, with an index of over 5000.
Wildlife Trust surveyors say they think Swaddywell is the only site in Cambridgeshire that has qualified on so many different criteria.