Minera Quarry Nature Reserve

A quarry area now overgrown with vegetation, trees and other larger plants, but still with large bare patches of ground. To the left there is a steep rockface, with grasses growing everywhere. To the right hills and woodlands rise up to enclose the area. In the very far left background a town can be seen, along with fields fading into the horizon and meeting the clouds.

Minera Quarry nature reserve © Simon Mills

Pyramidal orchid

Pyramidal orchid - Paul Lane

A lone tree sitting on the side of a hill, lots of bare loose rock is visible between the grass and a large cliff face forms the peak of the hill. The sky is bright blue with almost no cloud.

© NWWT Caroline Bateson

The new footbridge at Minera Quarry Nature Reserve

The new footbridge at Minera Quarry Nature Reserve © Simon Mills

A small brown bat with large rounded ears, at least a third of it's body length, and wings spread wide as it leaps from the tree on the left side of frame. The background is pitch black as it is night, with a few branches of green leaves coming in from the left where the tree is.

Brown long-eared bat © Hugh Clark

Tawny owl

Tawny owl © Steve Waterhouse

Peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon - Mike Snelle

Witness the incredible power of nature as it slowly reclaims this former industrial site. What will Minera Quarry’s next chapter hold?

Location

Minera Quarry Nature Reserve, Maes y Ffynnon Road, Minera,
Wrexham
LL11 3DE

OS Map Reference

OS Explorer Map 256
SJ258519
A static map of Minera Quarry Nature Reserve

Know before you go

z

Entry fee

No

Grazing animals

Various, all year round

Access

The site is steep with gravelly slopes in places. 

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

All year round

About the reserve

With an industrial history spanning over 400 years, this site is arguably as important culturally as it is for wildlife. Originally mined for its lead and later quarried for valuable limestone (until 1994), the reserve now comprises areas at different stages of re-colonisation. Woodland has established in the oldest parts of the quarry whilst bare rock still remains in the most recently worked – scan the open quarry faces for nesting ravens and raptors. In summer, the lime-rich soils create grassland filled with colour, where many species of orchid flourish alongside other rare and threatened plant species such as moonwort and pale toadflax. A staggering variety of rare invertebrates (butterflies, bees, flies, moths and beetles) inhabit the bare gravely ground and grassland areas, including mountain bumblebee, grayling and belted clearwing moth. The songs of spotted flycatcher, redstart and blackcap accompany a walk through the woodland and, in the evening, the characteristic ‘twit twoo’ of tawny owls can be heard. 

Did you know?
Minera Quarry is a renowned geological site. A 440 million-year-old seabed can be seen just beyond the pond and fossils can be seen throughout – look closely at the boulders about 100m from the entrance on the main track.

Directions
From the A483, just West of Wrexham, take the A525 toward Ruthin. Follow the road through Coedpoeth and, as you leave the village, turn Left onto the B5426 (signposted Minera/World’s End). Take the Right directly opposite Minera Aided Primary School, continue past St Mary’s Church and head around a sharp left bend. Take the first Left onto Maes-y-Ffynnon Road and follow it until you come to the reserve’s small car park (SJ 258 519).

Contact us

Jordan Hurst
Contact number: 01248 351541

Environmental designation

Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB)
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Large blue butterfly on a pyramidal orchid

butterfly & orchid_ Ross Hoddinott.

Tawny owl

Tawny owl © Steve Waterhouse

The new footbridge at Minera Quarry Nature Reserve

The new footbridge at Minera Quarry Nature Reserve © Simon Mills

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A small boy carrying a stick, walking through a woodland with large old trees and bluebells carpeting the floor. Behind him is a young girl running up to him, and a woman bending down to look at the flowers.
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