McIlroy Park
McIlroy Park is a 12-hectare (30-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Tilehurst, a suburb of Reading in Berkshire. It is owned and managed by Reading Borough Council. Along with Blundells Copse and Lousehill Copse it is part of West Reading Woodlands.
Geography and site
McIlroy Park is located on a steep hill and features a large species-rich grassland field and a large block of mixed deciduous woodland. There are two ancient sunken paths that pass through the woodland. There are old chalk pits in the west woodland area from the old clay extraction industry and a possible Saxon mound on its eastern edge.
McIlroy Park abuts, and is contiguous with another local nature reserve called Round Copse.
History
The land for the reservation was donated by William Mcilroy, who owned a department store in Reading, and was mayor of the town.
In 1992 site was designated a local nature reserve.
Fauna
The site has the following fauna:
Birds
- Red kite
- Common buzzard
- Common kestrel
- Common starling
- Common whitethroat
- Fieldfare
- European green woodpecker
- Dunnock
- House sparrow
- Mistle thrush
- Redwing
- Song thrush
- Willow warbler
- Eurasian sparrowhawk
- Eurasian jay
Invertebrates
- Cinnabar moth
- Bombus ruderarius
- Scotopteryx chenopodiata
- Gatekeeper
- Holly blue
- Meadow brown
- Lycaena phlaeas
- Speckled wood
Flora
The site has the following flora:
Trees
Plants
- Hyacinthoides non-scripta
- Catnip
- Mercurialis perennis
- Holcus mollis
- Melica uniflora
- Milium effusum
- Luzula pilosa
- Moehringia trinervia
- Calluna
- Ruscus aculeatus
Fungi
Wikimedia Commons has media related to McIlroy Park.
References
- ^ "McIlroy Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ "Map of McIlroy Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ "UK - McIlroy Park (Part of West Reading Woodlands) Nature Reserve in Reading - Walking". Freedom2explore.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ "Reading Borough Council". Reading.gov.uk. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ "WPG Management Plan" (PDF). Forestry Commission. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ Mayon-White, Richard; Yorke, Wendy (4 July 2013). Exploring the Thames Wilderness: A Guide to the Natural Thames - Richard Mayon-White, Wendy Yorke - Google Books. ISBN 9781408181126. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ "Friends of McIlroy Park". Econetreading.org.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ 15:06, 24 SEP 2014 (24 September 2014). "Rural Reading: McIlroy Park is one of Reading's hidden gems - Adrian Lawson". Get Reading. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "The Reading Naturalist No. 57" (PDF). Reading and District Natural History Society. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ "Aspects of Suburban Landscapes". Historic England. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.