Alexandra Park

Introduction
Alexandra Park is a beautiful, wildlife rich formal town park nestled in the centre of Hastings. The park has a diverse mosaic of habitats from the more formal southern end to the wild ancient woodland within Old Roar Gill & Coronation Wood Local Nature Reserve at the northern extreme of the park.

Map

Wildlife
The park is well known for its diverse and abundant wildlife, especially at the Northern end, known as ‘Old Roar Gill’ which is now a Local Nature Reserve. Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails breed throughout the park and can be seen any time of the year, especially at Bucks-hole Reservoir and Harmers Pond. Due to the closeness of the coast, many rare and scarce migrant birds visit the park including Night Heron, Little Bittern, Honey Buzzard and Ferruginous Duck.

Wild Orchids grow on the grassy banks around the park including Common Spotted Orchids, Green-Winged Orchids, Common Twayblade, and Autumn Ladies Tresses. Within Old Roar Gill, Broad-Leaved Helleborines and Early Purple Orchids grow on the woodland floor. Daubentons Bats can be seen flying over Shornden Reservoir on Summer evenings, and Noctule and Pipistrelle Bats are also seen regularly. The park is also one of the few places in Hastings where the Beautiful Demoiselle breeds. This is a large metallic green and blue damselfly and can be seen along the stream in the Lower Park during Summer. The park is best known for the superb Toothwort population, which can number over 500 plants, in the Lower Park, and smaller numbers within Old Roar Gill.