Brook Vessons

An extraordinarily atmospheric place, with a wonderful feeling of antiquity on the edge of The Stiperstones.

Location

On the north-east side of the ridge between The Paddock and Blakemoorgate above Snailbeach.

Snailbeach

Shropshire

SY5 0SJ

OS Map Reference

SJ38280085
What3Words: careful.commander.outwit

Know before you go

Size

18 hectares

Entry fee

Parking information

Park at Snailbeach Village Hall, SY5 0NZ. Free parking but a donation to the village hall is appreciated.

Grazing animals

Sheep on occasions throughout the year, so please keep your dog on a lead.

Access

The reserve is only accessible by walking and can be incorporated into a circular walk from the nearby Hollies nature reserve. A public right of way passes through the reserve. It is possible to reach Brook Vessons by hiking directly up through the woodland overlooking Snailbeach. Please allow at least 1 hour to make the trek there.

Toilets are available at the car park at Snailbeach. Reserve is at high altitude so prepare well for such conditions.

Accessibility: Red

From Snailbeach car park there is a gate. There are several other entrances from the Stiperstones, which have a mixture of gates and stiles. There is a stile or gate between The Hollies and Brook Vessons.

From Snailbeach car park there is a metalled road surface. This becomes a rocky/grassy path that can be rutted and muddy in parts. The Hollies is uneven grass with tussocks; Brook Vessons is very wet and muddy in parts.

Dogs

On a lead

Ground nesting birds at this site including skylarks & pipits. Please keep your dog on a lead during the breeding season, which is 1st March to 31st July.

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

All year round

About the reserve

Brook Vessons adjoins The Hollies. Here you find yourself among towering hedgerows, gnarled old trees, a tangled woodland, tiny meadows and boggy, tussocky grazing pastures. Dormice are known to breed here.

Perhaps the strangest thing about Brook Vessons is its cluster of giant trees. Within just 100 metres are some of the broadest rowans in Britain; the biggest birch in Shropshire; the biggest holly in Shropshire and the county’s biggest crab apple tree.

It lies on the edge of The Paddock – a village that grew up with the local mining industry as people took on smallholdings to supplement their income. It was finally abandoned early in the 20th century, when the industry declined, but the remnants of field and cottage walls remain.

Getting to Brook Vessons

Brook Vessons is most easily found by walking to the top of The Hollies, keeping to the brow of the hill. A little to your east go over a stile and you will be in Brook Vessons.