Skip to Content

Special Areas of Conservation

Helbeck and Swindale Woods

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country England
Unitary Authority Cumbria
Centroid* NY784164
Latitude 54.54222222
Longitude -2.333888889
SAC EU Code UK0030167
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 136.9
* This is the approximate central point of the SAC. In the case of large, linear or composite sites, this may not represent the location where a feature occurs within the SAC.
Location of Helbeck and Swindale Woods SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (2%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (1%)
  • Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (0.5%)
  • Dry grassland, Steppes (16%)
  • Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (7%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (71.5%)
  • Coniferous woodland (1%)
  • Inland rocks, Screes, Sands, Permanent Snow and ice (1%)

Download the Standard Data Form for this site (PDF <100kb)

Note When undertaking an appropriate assessment of impacts at a site, all features of European importance (both primary and non-primary) need to be considered.

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • 9180 Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines  * Priority feature

    The Tilio-Acerion woods here have developed over limestone, with crags, blocks and fine scree showing through in parts. In the Swindale section there is a steep-sided gorge with cliffs up to 30 m high. The wood is predominantly ash Fraxinus excelsior with some elm Ulmus sp. and has a rich ground flora, including the helleborines Cephalanthera longifolia, Epipactis atrorubens and E. helleborine, and wood barley Hordelymus europaeus.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

  • Not Applicable

Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of a site in these pages does not imply any right of public access.