Castle Bottom NNR facts for kids

Castle Bottom is a special place in the UK, a bit like a protected park for nature. It's called a national nature reserve and you can find it near a town called Yateley in Hampshire. This reserve is also part of a bigger area known as Castle Bottom to Yateley and Hawley Commons. This larger area is important enough to be called a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its unique plants and animals. It's also part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, which helps protect wild birds.

Exploring Castle Bottom

Castle Bottom Nature Reserve in February 2017

Castle Bottom nature reserve is located southwest of Yateley. It sits right next to the northwest edge of Blackbushe Airport. This reserve is a small area, about 29 hectares (which is like 71 acres). It has two special wet areas called valley mires. These mires are like marshy, boggy lands. The reserve also has dry heathland and woodland areas. Each of the valley mires has a small, acidic stream flowing through it.

A Look Back in Time

People have used the Castle Bottom area for a very long time. We know this because ancient burial mounds have been found there. These mounds show that humans were living in the area between 1800 and 550 BC. There's also evidence of banks built in the Western Mire. However, nobody knows exactly when these banks were made.

The land used to belong to a large estate called Bramshill House. But in 1952, it was sold. Before the local council bought the site, it was owned by a company that made quarry equipment.

In the early 1900s, two small cottages were built on the northern edge of the reserve. People lived in these cottages until the 1960s. Now, they are just ruins.

Amazing Animals of Castle Bottom

Castle Bottom is home to many different kinds of animals. Here are some of them:

Mammals

• Exmoor pony
• European water vole
• European badger
• Common noctule (a type of bat)
• Common pipistrelle (another type of bat)

Birds

Invertebrates

Invertebrates are animals without a backbone, like insects and spiders. Castle Bottom has many interesting ones:

Reptiles, Amphibians, and Other Vertebrates

These are animals with backbones, like snakes, frogs, and fish.

• Grass snake
• Vipera berus (a type of snake)
• Viviparous lizard
• Anguis fragilis (also known as a slow worm)
• Common frog
• Common toad
• Brown trout (a fish)

Fungi

Fungi are a kingdom of life that includes mushrooms and molds.

• Morchella elata
• Typhula quisquiliaris
• Inonotus radiatus
• Schizophyllum commune
• Tricholoma cingulatum
• Panellus serotinus
• Lactarius pubescens
• Leccinum holopus
• Tremella foliacea
• Pisolithus arhizus

Wonderful Plants of Castle Bottom

The reserve is also home to many different types of plants, known as flora.

Trees

• Conifer trees (like pine trees)
• Scots pine
• Silver Birch

Herbaceous Plants

These are plants that are not woody, like many flowers and grasses.