The Ercall

Ancient oak woodland, spectacular views and more than 500 million years of history can be enjoyed here.

Location

Just before and opposite the Buckatree Hotel in Little Wenlock
Wellington
Shropshire
TF6 5AL
A static map of The Ercall

Know before you go

Size
51 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Parking available in a small layby opposite the Buckatree Hotel, or just round the corner towards The Wrekin in the Forest Glen car park.

Grazing animals

None

Access

Accessibility: Amber

These are either open or a kissing gate opposite the Buckatree Hotel. Surfaces are variable from hard on the approaches to the quarries to muddy in parts of the woodland. Paths are wide and easy to follow through the woodland. The approach to the quarries from the Buckatree Hotel is a gentle slope, but beyond this and elsewhere it is very steep and undulating

As with all woodlands, branches can fall off trees and block tracks. Illegal off-road mountain bikes can churn up surfaces. Heavy rain may erode gullies in the track from the Buckatree entrance

Dogs

Dogs permitted
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Facilities

Accessible trails

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

All year round

About the reserve

Little sister to the famous Wrekin it may be, but The Ercall has its own grandeur. Human activity is dramatically evident in the huge chunk blasted out of the hillside to provide road stone for the nearby A5. Destructive this certainly was, but it had the unexpectedly wonderful effect of laying bare the earth’s history; revealing rocks from the earliest beginnings of life on this planet.

Ripples in the surface where waves lapped on an ancient shoreline some 500 million years ago are distinctly visible. Amazingly, this part of Britain used to be 60 degrees south of the equator – stand here on a wet, wintry day and imagine that!

It’s not just old rocks that make The Ercall interesting. In spring the woods are awash with bluebells and singing with birds just returned from Africa, and in summer plentiful bird’s-foot trefoil makes this a favoured stronghold of one of Telford’s specialty butterflies, the dingy skipper. A staggering 821 species of invertebrates (butterflies, beetles, spiders, bees, bugs, ants etc) were found here in a single survey.

An easy, gentle walk takes you onto the quarry floor; to explore the woods properly and gain views, a steep climb is necessary. 

The Forest Glen, once the site of a celebrated local tea room, now a car park, was acquired by the Trust in 2005, with substantial assistance from Shropshire Horticultural Society. The Glen, with its dramatic rockface, is the gateway to The Wrekin, one of Shropshire’s most famous and best-loved landmarks.  

For queries regarding The Forest Glen car park, please click here for contact information and more details.

Contact us

Location map

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