About the reserve

Along with several other pits in Cherry Hinton, this chalk quarry, known as East Pit, once provided hard chalk to build Cambridge University colleges and lime for cement. Today it supports a variety of habitats that harbour some rare plants and insects and is designated as part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

East Pit is the largest of the quarries and was worked up until the early 1980s. Standing within the pit, you are surrounded by steep cliffs of chalk that glow in the late afternoon sun. Reprofiling the base of the pit in 2009 broke up much of the solid chalk surface, which enabled wildflowers and grasses to spread and colonise the exposed chalk. Wildflowers such as milkwort, common thyme and kidney vetch are thriving. The rare moon carrot only grows here and at two other locations in the country (Beachy Head, East Sussex and Knocking Hoe, Bedfordshire). 

The scrub habitat and cliffs in this pit provide nesting and feeding sites for more than 60 species of bird.

Additional information

• Falling rocks: do not climb the cliffs and keep away from the base of cliffs as there is a possibility of rocks falling.
• This nature reserve is part of the Cambridgeshire Chalk Living Landscape.  
• In 2009 an archaeological excavation was carried out at East Pit.  The Cambridgeshire Geological Society have detailed information about East Pit, including a downloadable PDF:

East Pit Archaeology Report

• Scroll down to see the reserve boundary. Please note the boundary map is for indication purposes only and does not show the Wildlife Trusts definitive land boundary. 

FOR ANY MEDIA ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM:   communicationsteam@wildlifebcn.live or 01954 713500 and ask for comms team.

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