Amwell Viewpoint
Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Ramsar Site.
Grid Ref: TL377129
Area: 40 hectares
Open all year with views from hides and special viewpoints into the Reserve.
Located between Ware and Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire
Amwell Nature Reserve is owned and managed by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and is a key wildlife refuge in the Lee Valley Living Landscape which stretches from Hertford for 27 miles to the River Thames.
The Reserve is dominated by lakes created by sand and gravel digging which took place between 1973 and 1990.
The Reserve supports internationally important numbers of wintering gadwall and shoveler ducks, along with important communities of breeding birds, dragonflies and damselflies.
The site includes four main waterbodies; Great Hardmead lake, Holycross lake, Tumbling Bay lake and the ‘Bittern Pool’ all surrounded by a variety of wetlands, grasslands and woodlands. The reserve also attracts wintering bitterns – this is one of the best places to see this elusive bird. During most winters, smew are seen.
The lakes and islands attract breeding birds such as little grebe, great crested grebe, gadwall, pochard, tufted duck, little ringed plover, common tern, kingfisher, sedge warbler, reed warbler and reed bunting.
Amwell is the best site to see dragonflies in Hertfordshire, with nineteen species recorded, including hairy dragonfly, red-eyed damselfly, southern hawker, brown hawker, ruddy and common darter. From May to September there is a special dragonfly watching boardwalk trail through ponds and marshes, open daily at Hollycross Lake.
The variety of wetland habitats support a wide range of plants including the nationally scarce marsh dock. An area of power station ash, imported from elsewhere in the Lee Valley, supports a colony of early and southern marsh orchids which can be seen in late May.
Amwell is one of the most important sites Hertfordshire for otters, following reintroduction to the reserve in 1991. Reptiles and amphibians include grass snakes, common newts and common frogs. Molluscs are particularly well represented at Amwell, with approximately 25% of all British terrestrial and freshwater species recorded here. The huge Roman snail, now rare in Europe due to collecting, has become common here in recent years. The Reserve is home to more species of water beetles and water bugs than anywhere else in Hertfordshire.
Amwell is one of the most popular nature reserves with people too with over 30,000 visits annually. Wildlife-watching opportunities don’t come any better. A panoramic viewpoint provides far-reaching views across the reserve and beyond to Easneye Woods. The Gladwin, James and White hides enable visitors to get up close and personal with Amwell’s special wildlife, without causing disturbance. Information and interpretation is available throughout the reserve.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust lead guided walks around the reserve in most seasons. For more information visit
www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/herts/ or telephone 01727 858901