Havenside Country Park

Havenside is a great place to experience Lincolnshire's wildlife.

Overlooking the salt water stretch of the River Witham, known as The Haven, the park is linear in shape and can be accessed on foot by the seabank path.

Havenside Country Park and Local Nature Reserve is a great place to experience Lincolnshire's wildlife, ranging from oyster catchers and barn owls to bats and common seals. There is a superb mix of rough grassland with scrub and brambles, cattle grazed meadows, shallow seasonal ponds, estuary and mud flat. Salt marsh plants such as sea lavender and grasswort colonise the mud.

The Haven is an important river for navigation, with commercial ships up to 120 metres in length and 4,500 tonnes in weight regularly heading to and from Boston port. They bring in goods such as steel, forest products, cereal crops and containers.

Located within the park is the Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial, marking the place formerly known as Scotia Creek where a group of puritans were arrested attempting to flee to religious freedom in 1607. Some of them were tried and imprisoned in the Guildhall at Boston. They eventually made it to Holland in 1608 and then in 1620 sailed to the New World, via Plymouth, in the Mayflower and later became known as the Pilgrim Fathers.

Access to the site, which includes a car park and picnic area, is via the sea bank path from the main entrance near METSA, off Fishtoft Road. Alternatively it can be accessed by car via Fishtoft village: follow the brown tourist signs to the Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial.

In 2005 Havenside was declared a Local Nature Reserve.  For further information please contact 01205 314200.