Granville Country Park

Granville Country Park

Old industrial building at Granville Country Park

Once a hive of industry, with mines and furnaces, Granville has been reclaimed by nature and it now a gem in the middle of new development in Telford.

Location

Approximately 2 miles north-east of Telford Town Centre
Telford
Shropshire
TF2 7QD

OS Map Reference

(Car park)
SJ 71897 12416
What3Words: foam.rebel.body
A static map of Granville Country Park

Know before you go

Size
24 hectares
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Entry fee

No
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Parking information

Park at the car park: Donnington, Telford TF2 7QG. Car park is off Granville road. Granville road is off Granville roundabout in Donnington near to the Asda superstore. Turn left before Telford Equestrian Centre.

Access

Accessibility: Green

From the main public car park the site is open although there are kissing gates further in.

Generally the tracks follow former railways and are hard surfaced. Some tracks, off railway lines, can be soft and muddy.

The site is flat, but it has several spoil mounds that have steep slopes. Some of these have flights of steps, but these can be avoided.

Dogs

Dogs permitted
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Facilities

Accessible trails

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

April to July

About the reserve

The extraordinary thing about the building of Telford New Town was that the development plan incorporated a green network of hedgerows, canals, meadows, canal fringes and other open spaces that were retained, so that wildlife and people could live together. It was an achievement that won international recognition, pioneering the way forward for other new towns.

Granville is one of the largest and most wildlife diverse of these places, much valued by local people for its recreational opportunities. The spirit of renewal is tangible here. Nature has reclaimed it after centuries of industrial activity, which finally ceased when Granville, the last deep mine in the county, closed down.

Relics of former industrial activity, including furnaces and an old winding house, are now surrounded by woodland full of birds, while pit mounds of waste have been transformed into flower-rich grassland and heath.

An abundance of bird’s-foot trefoil now feeds generations of caterpillars of Telford’s speciality butterflies, the dingy skipper and green hairstreak. Orchids, ox-eye daisy, cowslips and yellow rattle, rarely seen now in agricultural fields, have miraculously appeared in what was, in the not-so-distant past, a grim and uninviting landscape.

Small though these hills may be, their tops provide good viewpoints over the surrounding countryside and town.

Today the green soul of Telford is under threat. Telford is the second fastest growing town in Britain, facing a potential 51% population growth by 2024. People need homes and houses must be built. But the green nature of Telford must not be sacrificed in the haste to meet targets. Shropshire Wildlife Trust is working hard to ensure that this dynamic, wildlife-rich landscape survives.  

Contact us

Environmental designation

Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

Location map

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