Skipwith Common ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 3 miles Time to Complete Walk 1 hour

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

A short walk around the nature reserve at Skipwith Common. Great for a dog walk if you are in the local area. There is an interesting diversion to an RAF memorial and in the spring/ summer you should be able to spot some wildlife such as birds and livestock. There is a red route, blue route and a yellow route. This walk follows the yellow route.

General Safety Tips: 

Park in the car park at Common Road on the outskirts of the reserve as the road into the park is unsuitable for cars.

                                        The Skipwith Common walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough follow the A19 to Thirsk. Keep on the A19 towards York. At Rawcliffe turn right onto the A1237 to Askham Bryan. Turn left onto the A64 and follow this towards the York Designer Outlet. Shortly after turn right onto the A19 to Escrick. Turn left onto Skipwith Road. Head towards Skipwith. When you pass The Drovers Arms head to the right on Common Road. Parking is on your left and free of charge.

                                    Maps of the Skipwith Common walk

The Walk

From the car park head up the path.

Look for a yellow marker post and turn right to follow the track into the woods.

Follow the track around passing another marker post.

Follow the track as it skirts the edge of the woods.

Cross a small makeshift bridge.

Look out for another yellow marker post and join the track ahead of it.

Look for some log made tepees to your left for a small diversion in the woods.

Rejoin the track and follow it to another yellow marker post which indicates the way ahead.

Follow the track around the edge of the reserve again.

Pass another marker post on your left.

Follow the track around the edge of the woods and over a wooden bridge.

Pass another marker post.

Soon you come to a large clearing.

Follow the path directly across the clearing called the Yellow route anticlockwise route.

Follow the path ahead with a pond to your right.

Before you reach the gate and car park ahead, look for a left turn and a track- join this track.

This track then joins a path from the right.

Follow the path to a crossroads.

Keep on the path ahead.

When the path diverges look for a diversion to your right which is to an RAF memorial and well worth a visit.

After the visit, rejoin the track ahead.

Follow the path until you eventually arrive back onto the grey tarmac path you started on. Head down the path and back to the car park.

Skipwith Common

Yorkshire, England. It is one of only three areas within the Vale of York that represent what the area was like before intensive agriculture took over. Natural England have described the reserve as having "international importance" on account of "its wet and dry heathland".

The site used to be common land, and has seen use in the Bronze Age, during the Early modern European period, when it was harvested for peat, and during the 20th century when it was partly incorporated into an airfield during the Second World War.

The site was given the designation of SSSI in 1958, SAC in 2004 and NNR in 2010.

In the 18th century, Skipwith Common covered an area of 869 acres (352 ha) and curved eastwards around the village. The modern-day site, which covers 580 acres (234 hectares), was formerly part of RAF Riccall, and is 30 feet (9 m) above sea level, sandwiched between the Rivers Ouse and Derwent, forming part of the watershed between the two. It can be defined into two distinct areas; lowland heath and woodland. Part of the site is labelled as Danes Hill and was thought to have been where the Viking army buried their dead after their defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Also on the common is a Bronze Age barrow, some 2,600 feet (800 m) south of Skipwith.

The numerous ponds on the site are from the flax industry which flourished in the area around the 19th century. The working of flax required large ponds on even ground with a plentiful supply of freshwater streams to feed the ponds. The process for working flax is known as retting, and is normally located away from settlements due to the poisoning of the water supply. The site was also used to harvest peat for fuel throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, with York being a popular market for the peat. In 1903, the common was enclosed under the Enclosure Act, being the last major piece of common land in England to undergo this transformation.

In the 1940s, the south-western edge of the common was utilised by the Royal Air Force as the bomb storage location for the adjacent RAF Riccall airfield. After the Air Force departed in 1957, the site was rarely used and was subject to being overgrown with Betula (birch trees) as the common was not being actively managed. Sheep were introduced in 1983, which proved beneficial for keeping the scrub in check, but they were heavy-footed and so were replaced in 1986 with the Hebridean breed, which weigh a lot less than the Swaledale and Dalesbred breeds that were being used previously. The site is also grazed by English Longhorn cattle and Exmoor ponies.

The site was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1958, because of its rich vegetation and are entomological species such as orgyia recens and chilodes maritima. The designation extends to 724 acres (293 ha), which is slightly more than the NNR designation. In 2004, the site was confirmed as a Special Area of Conservation.

As part of the Selby Coalfield mining venture, the coal underneath the common was mined from 1997 onwards. Whilst there were some objections to this, RJB Mining countered that working the Stanley Main Seam was necessary as poor geological conditions in the Barnsley Seam led to the seeking alternatives.

Skipwith Common is representative of what a lowland heath would have looked like before the Vale of York was subject to intensive agriculture. A spokesperson for Natural England described the site as having "international importance for its wet and dry heathland." Skipwith Common is one of just three sites within the vale that are indicative of this lowland heath, the other two being Strensall Common and Allerthorpe Common. The common has a memorial to remember those who served at the RAF base during the Second World War.

Buses run through the village of Skipwith, and the nearest railway stations are at Wressle and Selby.The site is bounded on the west by the A19 road and to the south by the A163 road. Both provide access roads into the common with car parks on the common's edges.