Breary Marsh is a Local Nature Reserve and

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

situated adjacent to

Golden Acre Park Golden Acre Park is a public park in Bramhope, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England (), administered by Leeds City Council. It is on the A660 Otley Road and covers an area of . History The park opened as a privately run amusement park in 1932 wit ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, West Yorkshire, England, . SSSI Natural England
File SE24R BrearyMarshWoodpath

Geography

As the name suggests, it includes an area of marshland, but also a wet

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

valley wood and former birch coppice.. It is said to be "a representative example of a wet valley alderwood and associated flood plain fen communities and is the most diverse example known in the county". Wooden walkways are provided over marshy areas. It is part of the

Leeds Country Way The Leeds Country Way (LCW) is a circular long-distance footpath of around Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is never more than from the city centre of Leeds, but is mainly rural with extensive views in the outlying areas of the Leeds me ...

and the north end of the

Meanwood Valley Trail The Meanwood Valley Trail is a waymarked footpath and the title of an annual (March/April) footrace that takes place on parts of the trail in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It runs for a distance of from the statue of (former Leeds may ...

. A lake at the southern end of the reserve, known as Paul's Pond, was formerly a fish pond belonging to the nearby Cookridge Hall estate. It is named after William Paul, who bought the estate in 1890. The site is situated between

Lawnswood Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As such it is in the north north east of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharfedale Ward of the City of Leeds Coun ...

and

Bramhope Bramhope is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England, north of Holt Park and north east of Cookridge. The village is north of Leeds city centre and it is in the L ...

off the A660 Otley Road. The adjacent park has a large car park and buses run close by from Leeds,

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

and

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

Etymology

The place-name ''Breary'' is first attested in the twelfth century, in the forms ''Brerehag'', ''Brerehagh'', and ''Brerehage''. The early forms come from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

words ''brēr'' (' briar') and ''haga'' ('enclosure, hedge'). However, later forms, including the modern name, show replacement of the second element with a related word of similar meaning: Old English ''hæg'' ('fence, enclosure'). In both variants, the name meant 'enclosure characterised by briars'. For a time the western part of the settlement so named was called West Breary, first attested in 1549 as 'West Brerry'.Harry Parkin, ''Your City's Place-Names: Leeds'', English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 28.

References

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Yorkshire Geography of Leeds Local Nature Reserves in West Yorkshire {{Europe-protected-area-stub