Nature Reserves in London
Although central London is known mostly for its skyscrapers and key landmarks, there are some great places to spend time with nature, right in the city centre.
You can go from the hustle and bustle of a London Borough to sitting down with birds singing around you in no time if you know where to look.
From birds to otters to wet woodlands and chalk grassland, there are so many amazing things tucked away in London's nature reserves. Read on to find out where you can find them!
Gillespie Park
Gillespie Park is a hidden urban sanctuary located in Highbury (the London Borough of Islington). This Local Nature Reserve covers around 2.8 hectares and is a site of metropolitan importance for nature conservation. This park features woodland, wildflower meadows, ponds, and reed beds, creating a mosaic of habitats.
A staggering 244 species of plants, 94 species of birds, and 24 species of butterflies have been recorded here! In the 90s, the reserve had the first recorded breeding of the long-tailed blue butterfly in the UK!
Whilst visiting this reserve, you might spot foxes, squirrels, frogs, toads, newts, and likely even herons, especially around the ponds in spring and summer.
Lee Valley Walthamstow
Bordering Hackney and Waltham Forest, the Walthamstow Marshes are open to the public. Designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) since 1985, the marshes are actively maintained to preserve their rare floodplain grassland habitats.
This area is a mix of neutral grassland, sedge marshes, reed swamp, scrubs, and tall herbs. This habitat allows it to be a haven for both breeding and migratory birds, including the reed bunting, reed warbler, and flocks of finches in the winter.
Oxleas Wood
This ancient deciduous woodland is located on Shooter's Hill in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It's at least 8,000 years old: rich in oak, silver birch woodland, hornbeam, and coppice hazel, and is a good place to go for a walk.
Wildlife to spot includes spring bluebells and breeding birds like the nuthatch, woodpeckers, and the chiffchaff. Facilities include toilets, car parks, and a cafe.
Richmond Park
Richmond Park is London's largest Royal Park, as well as a National Nature Reserve. This is thanks to its veteran trees, acid grasslands, and rare fauna. With over 1,000 veteran oaks and ancient pollarded trees, it’s a haven for fungi, insects, and birds
It contains the largest area of lowland acid grassland in London, a nationally important habitat featuring sheep’s sorrel, mouse-eared hawkweed, harebell, and heath bedstraw.
Fallen and decaying wood supports an incredible diversity of fauna: more than 1,350 beetle species, including rare ones like the stag beetle and cardinal click beetle, as well as over 250 fungi. It's also home to about 630 wild red and fallow deer.
Around 144 bird species have been recorded, with 63 breeding species including kestrels, owls, sparrowhawks, skylarks, and woodpeckers.
Braeburn Park
This London Wildlife Trust site is located in Crayford, Bexley. It's a former orchard, quarry, and landfill that now features neutral, acid, and chalk grassland, as well as woodland, sandy bank, and ponds.
Rare species of invertebrates include skipping flower beetles and picture-winged flies. Reptiles such as the grass snake, common lizard, and slow-worm are also present. Additionally, the pyramidal orchid, hare’s-foot clover, linnet, green woodpecker, and kestrel are found in the area.
Bramley Bank
Bramley Bank is a 10-hectare local nature reserve in London. It's a blend of restored woodland, relic heathland, and acid grassland.
This reserve is situated in the Addington Hills, featuring trees such as oak, ash, and birch, with a dazzling spring carpet of bluebells and dog’s-violet. Its most distinctive feature is Croydon’s largest woodland pond, an important habitat surrounded by acid grassland patches that host diverse wild flowers.
Stag beetles and woodpeckers thrive here; two classic inhabitants of London’s woodlands. The reserve also supports song thrushes, nuthatches, purple hairstreak butterflies, yellow meadow ants, and common pipistrelle bats.
Crane Park Island
Along the River Crane corridor is where Crane Park Island is, a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) that forms part of a larger Site of Metropolitan Importance.
This island sanctuary is shaped by a range of habitats: woodland, reedbeds, ditches, and ponds, all surrounded by the flowing River Crane. The site is managed by the London Wildlife Trust, and its restored Shot Tower Visitor Ecology Centre opens at weekends.
Crane Park Island is a haven for water voles, kingfishers, grey herons, and smaller woodland birds such as woodpeckers and treecreepers.
Denheam Lock Wood
Tucked beside the Grand Union Canal in North Uxbridge, Denham Lock Wood is a secluded reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust. This peaceful spot features wet alder–willow woodland and fen, offering boardwalk access for visitors (currently under repair).
It’s an important refuge for both flora and fauna: wintering wildfowl, delicate spring flowers, and fascinating invertebrates like banded demoiselles, red cardinal beetles, and the nationally rare Desmoulin’s whorl snail.
Chapel Bank
On the edge of New Addington in Croydon lies Chapel Bank, a chalk downland cared for by the London Wildlife Trust.
In summer, Chapel Bank bursts into colour with wildflowers and orchids, providing nectar for a remarkable array of butterflies. Visitors may spot the dark green fritillary or the elegant marbled white.
Farm Bog
At the southern edge of Wimbledon Common, you’ll find Farm Bog, one of London’s last surviving lowland bogs.
Despite its small size, Farm Bog is rich in specialist wildlife, from sphagnum mosses, bogbean, and skullcap plants to unusual species like the insect-eating butterwort. The site also supports common darters, common lizards, and the striking wasp spider.
Woodberry Wetlands (Hackney)
Managed by the London Wildlife Trust and owned by Thames Water, this nature reserve is an old reservoir turned into a wetland habitat. with reedbeds, wildflower meadows, hedgerows, and aquatic habitats.
The reserve hosts loads of wildlife: from wintering ducks like pochard and gadwall to breeding species such as reed warbler, kingfisher, and rarities like bittern in the colder months.
If you want to find more local reserves, you can visit the Wildlife Trust Website, click filters, keyword, search location.
