Altar Stones Nature Reserve

Markfield Parish Neighbourhood Plan: Referendum Version

4.30. This old granite quarry is now managed as a nature reserve. Part of the site is flooded and this is fenced off. The site has several wooded areas, including trees that have naturally colonised such as Oak and Ash along with some Mountain Ash and Downy Birch. The sparse, acid soils offer good habitat for heathland plants such as Gorse and Heath Bedstraw. There is a good variety of insects including several butterfly species such as Large Skipper, Gatekeeper and Speckled Wood. Altar Stones Nature Reserve

4.31. Altar Stones is a 3.7-hectare (9.1-acre) nature reserve that is owned and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. 4.32. This site has outcrops of Precambrian volcanic rocks and drystone walls providing cover and shelter for a variety of insects, lichens and mosses. The breakdown of these rocks creates the perfect conditions for heath-grassland that was once typical in Charnwood Forest, and the grasses, herbs and lichens that thrive here are diverse, varied and, in some cases, very rare in Leicestershire.

4.33. At the top of the hill there are views over parts of Leicestershire and the Midlands. Elsewhere the stone pads from the old pillar windmill, which once occupied part of the site, have been recreated and remains of the miller’s store can still be seen.

Policy M4: Ecology and Biodiversity

To be supported development proposals that cannot avoid harm to the biodiversity, or the geological significance of the following sites must include adequate mitigation, or as a last resort compensate for that harm: Billa Barra Hill Local Nature Reserve

Hill Hole Quarry Nature Reserve Altar Stones Nature Reserve

Local Wildlife Sites:

FIGURE 6: ALTAR STONES LOCAL WILDLIFE SITE