Cornwall Heritage Trust is delighted to be part of the exciting new Mid Cornwall Moors Nature Reserve, helping to celebrate and protect one of Cornwall’s most important landscapes for wildlife, history and people.
We are especially pleased that Castle an Dinas, which Cornwall Heritage Trust has cared for since 1989, forms part of the reserve, helping connect more people with Cornwall’s rich natural and cultural heritage.
Read the full announcement from Natural England below:
The Cornwall Heritage Trust team at the top of Helman Tor for today’s Mid Cornwall Moors launch.
(Left to right: Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and President of Cornwall Heritage Trust; Dick Cole, Sites Officer; Merv Davey; Alison Davey, Trustee; and James Shipway, Ranger)
Ancient Cornish moors gain landmark National Nature Reserve status
A unique Cornish moorland landscape, shaped by thousands of years of history, becomes a National Nature Reserve.
- Over 1,100 hectares of moorland, the equivalent of 1,500 football pitches, recognised for nature recovery.
- Wild wet woodlands, heaths, moorlands, and bogs, supporting rare species, made bigger, better, and more joined up, for local people and visitors to enjoy.
Today, Wednesday 27 May, the Mid Cornwall Moors is declared the 14th site in the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves (NNR’s). It brings over 1,100 hectares of moorland together, which is more than double the size of the existing Goss Moor National Nature Reserve, which it incorporates.
The Mid Cornwall Moors form a patchwork of semi-natural habitats, including heath, moorland, mire, and woodland. The NNR sites create a network across Cornwall’s distinctive clay country between St Austell to the south, Bodmin to the east, and St Columb Major to the north.
This declaration celebrates places that have shaped Cornwall’s national story and recognises the county’s richest historical landscapes, spanning prehistoric tin streaming, Iron Age hillforts and ancient woodland. Iconic sites including Helman Tor, the Iron Age hillfort of Castle an Dinas, and Goss Moor, known locally to have been King Arthur’s favourite hunting ground, all form part of this nationally significant landscape.
The reserve combines land managed for nature and heritage by Natural England, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Heritage Trust, the Gaia Trust and Imerys. It also includes land designated as the Mid Cornwall Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is land of exceptional ecological importance.
Home to rare habitats and species, this nature reserve includes wet ‘willow carr’ woodland, with the rare willow tit, and raised bogs with sphagnum moss, lesser butterfly orchid, royal fern and the carnivorous round-leaved sundew. Cornish moneywort, which is unique to Cornwall’s tin streaming landscape, also thrive.
Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England, said:
“The declaration of the Mid Cornwall Moors as a National Nature Reserve is a powerful recognition of the landscape’s extraordinary natural and cultural heritage.
“By bringing these landscapes together under one reserve, we are not only helping to restore precious habitats but also creating more opportunities for people to connect with nature, history and the unique character of Cornwall for generations to come.”
Matt Walpole, CEO of Cornwall Wildlife Trust said:
“The new Mid Cornwall Moors National Nature Reserve reflects the importance of long-term collaboration in creating bigger, better and more connected spaces for nature recovery.
“The inclusion of Helman Tor within the National Nature Reserve recognises decades of work to restore habitats and support wildlife recovery within this special landscape.
“We are already seeing the benefits of working with natural processes through conservation grazing with Longhorn cattle and Tamworth pigs, alongside pioneering wild beaver reintroductions. Helping to create more diverse and resilient habitats for wildlife to thrive and for people to enjoy.”
The area serves a community living in one of Cornwall’s most rurally deprived regions. The declaration will improve access to nature, create opportunities for learning and recreation, and support broader economic benefits locally.
Cathy Woolcock, CEO of Cornwall Heritage Trust said:
“The Mid Cornwall Moors National Nature Reserve (NNR) brings together a number of important land areas and celebrates both nature and the incredible time-depth of human history, ranging from hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic through to miners and farmers in more recent centuries.
“We are pleased that Castle an Dinas is to be included within the expanded NNR, especially given its direct links to the Goss Moor and the wider landscape in Mid Cornwall.
“We look forward to collaborating with partners involved with the NNR to better connect Cornish residents and visitors to these most important places in Cornwall’s national story.”
The declaration of this National Nature Reserve reflects Natural England’s commitment to working in partnership to deliver nature recovery on a landscape scale. The King’s Series will create 25 new or expanded NNRs in honour of His Majesty the King, with five new sites announced each year until 2028.
Mark Hewson, who leads Imerys in the UK said:
“Nature restoration is central to modern mining and is built into the design and management of every pit.
“Local community involvement has been an essential element of this, and the clear message is that increased access for walkers, cyclists and horse riders is the number one priority.
“We are very proud to be working with our partners, creating this legacy for people and nature in the heart of Cornwall.”
Matt Edworthy, Director of the Gaia Trust said:
“It is fantastic for Chark Moor to be included in this new National Nature Reserve along with the other wonderful sites. All are havens for wildlife including locally and nationally rare species and require ongoing management, including careful conservation grazing by cattle and ponies.
“Sustainable management supports local graziers and businesses, and provides learning and skills development opportunities for local people”
Notes:
- National Nature Reserves, designated by Natural England, are our most important places for nature, where habitats, wildlife and geology are protected and where environmental research, access and community engagement come together through partnerships to inspire and connect people with nature and in support of nature’s recovery.
- The King’s Series of NNRs, the first of which was declared in 2023, in honour of His Majesty the King’s Coronation, is a commitment made through the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan to declare 25 new National Nature Reserves over a 5-year period in recognition of His Majesty’s longstanding passion for the natural environment. This is the most significant expansion of the NNR series in a generation.
- Castle an Dinas was recorded as a seat of the Duke of Cornwall in a Cornish language miracle play and was later owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Cornwall Heritage Trust (CHT) has just celebrated their 40th anniversary, and they have been custodians of this important Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1989. The young Prince Charles visited the site exactly 40 years ago, as negotiations for the transfer of the monument to CHT were beginning.
- Tin streaming is an ancient Cornish mining method that extracts tin from riverbeds and valleys rather than underground. Practised since prehistoric times, it reshapes the land into boggy, waterlogged terrain which are ideal conditions for rare species.
- Conservation farming is the key management tool for managing many of these sites, and through a range of native breeds such as Belted Galloway and Longhorn cattle, support sustainable farm businesses and food production. Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship Schemes supports this, along with one of only two Natural-England in-house run farms situated on site.
- Sites are grazed with Exmoor and Dartmoor ponies and the more recent introduction of Tamworth pigs, and a licenced wild beaver release on Cornwall Wildlife Trust sites. See press release: https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/wild-beavers-release-marks-new-chapter-nature-recovery-cornwall
- The Tregothnan Estate is a key landowner within the partnership, demonstrating their long-term commitment to conservation and sustainable land management in the area.
