About the reserve

There are parts of Lazenby Bank which have had uninterrupted woodland cover since early times and which can be described as Ancient Woodland; a rare and irreplaceable habitat. These have evolved complex communities of trees, plants, fungi, microorganisms and insects. Look out for the distinctive white-spotted, red caps of the fly agaric toadstool or specialist molluscs such as the ash-black slug or the rather handsome English chrysalis snail.

Lazenby Bank is important culturally, too, having been the backdrop to human activity and settlement over centuries. A Bronze Age barrow and an Iron Age Hillfort have been identified at Eston Nab, while scattered through Lazenby Bank, the visitor can find remains of its iron mining history; cobbled tramways, a bridge with a keystone dating from 1871, the shell of the fan house, known locally as the “SS Castle” from the iron brackets which are keeping the walls upright. This was the site where the 16 feet-thick Cleveland Main Seam of rich ironstone was first discovered. Although the woodland now offers peace and tranquillity, it is not very long since 10,000 miners were working this seam, deep into the Eston Hills and sending millions of tonnes of ore to feed the furnaces which were strung along the banks of the Tees. The steel they produced was used in construction projects around the world, from Denmark to Sudan and most famously, in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The purchase of this 200 acre woodland and its establishment as a reserve was only made by possible through the generous support of Biffa Award.

Biffa Award helps to build communities and transform lives by awarding grants for community and environmental projects across the UK. The fund’s capital comes from landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Group Limited, the leading nationwide integrated waste management business, through the Landfill Communities Fund.