Brignall Banks is a

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 ...

in the

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, located principally in County Durham, North East England. It is one of the Durham Dales, which are themselves part of the North Pennines, the northernmost part of the Pennine uplands. The dale is named after ...

district of south-west

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It consists of a narrow belt of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

on the steep slopes of the valleys of the River Greta and its tributary, Gill Beck, just west of Brignall village and about 6 km south of

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum has an 18th-century Silver Swan automaton exhibit ...

. It is one of the largest expanses of semi-natural woodland in North-east England; a number of scarce species are present, indicating that it is

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

. A varied lichen flora includes several species that are sensitive to air pollution and rare in County Durham, including some, such as '' Thelotrema lepadinum'' and ''

Graphis scripta ''Graphis scripta'' is a crustose lichen, crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is commonly called script lichen, secret writing lichen, or similar names, because its growth pattern makes it looks like writing. ''Stigmidium microspilum' ...

'', that are indicator species for ancient woodland. In the

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

database of ancient woodlands, it is recorded as part of Mill Wood, which is split into 95.6 ha south of the Greta and 19.2 ha north of the Greta.

References

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub