Local Wildlife Site

Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation

Pymme's Brook

Borough: Barnet

Grade: Borough Grade II

Access: Free public access (all/most of site)

Area: 10.8 ha

Description

The Pymme’s Brook, a small tributary of the River Lea, flows southwards through the eastern part of Barnet borough through a corridor of woodland and grassland. Two separate sections of the brook are included in this site. The first is a 500 metre stretch from where the brook leaves Monken Hadley Common and runs to Park Road. The southern section is just over 3 kilometres in length, running from Brookside to the borough boundary with Enfield (where it enters Arnos Park on its way to join the River Lea at Edmonton).Between these two sections, the brook flows for about a kilometre between back gardens and in a short culvert.

Wildlife

In the northern, shorter section of the site, the brook flows through an attractive strip of rough grassland and scattered scrub, with a narrow belt of oak woodland beside the river. There is little vegetation in the water because of the shade. The southern section is also largely wooded. The most interesting woodland is on the eastern bank, just north of New Southgate Cemetery. This appears to be a fragment of ancient woodland, with a canopy of fine old oaks along with ash, crack-willow and hornbeam. The understorey includes wild service-tree, Midland hawthorn, field maple and crab apple. At ground level plants include pignut, wood millet, wood melick, field rose and bluebell. The brook in the southern section has fairly natural banks and a gravel bed, though the dense shade restricts the vegetation in the water. In more open areas, broad-leaved pondweed grows in the water with a few clumps of pendulous sedge on the banks. Grey wagtails can often be seen foraging beside the water.

Facilities

The Pymme's Brook Trail provides access for most of the length of the site.

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More information on GiGL’s SINC dataset can be found here.

Additional information, including other site designations and species recorded onsite and nearby, can be provided in community and client data search reports. Request information here.