Tuthill_disused_quarry_has_now_been_infilled_-_geograph

Tuthill Quarry 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

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 ...

district of north-east

, England. It lies just over 1 km east of the village of Haswell. The site occupies part of a disused quarry, in which have developed areas of primary and secondary magnesian limestone grassland. Such grassland is largely confined to County Durham and increasingly scarce even there. The grasslands at Tuthill Quarry are typical of the type, being characterised by the presence of blue moor-grass, '' Sesleria albicans'', and small scabious, ''

Scabiosa columbaria ''Scabiosa columbaria'', called the small scabious or dwarf pincushion flower, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus ''Scabiosa'', native to Europe, Africa, and western Asia, from Sweden to Angola. In the garden it is a short-li ...

'', but a number of less common species are also present, including common butterwort, ''

Pinguicula vulgaris ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they ...

'', and adder's-tongue fern, ''

Ophioglossum vulgatum ''Ophioglossum vulgatum'', commonly known as adder's-tongue, southern adder's-tongue or adder's-tongue fern, is a species of fern in the family ''Ophioglossaceae''. The chloroplast genome was reported to have a size of 138,562 base pairs. Descr ...

''. There is a small patch of the nationally scarce bird's-eye primrose, ''

Primula farinosa ''Primula farinosa'', the bird's-eye primrose, is a small perennial plant in the family Primulaceae, native to Northern Europe and further south at high altitudes in the mountains of southern Europe. It is also widespread in northern and central ...

'', and one of the few records from lowland Durham of lesser clubmoss, ''

Selaginella selaginoides ''Selaginella selaginoides'' is a non-flowering plant of the spikemoss genus ''Selaginella'' with a wide distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. It resembles a moss in appearance but is a vascular plant belonging to the division Lycopodioph ...

'', is from this site.

References

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