Levington Lagoon Nature Reserve

A verdant landscape overlooking scrapes with a blue and pink sky
A bright morning looking over the river orwell with the tide out

Jesse Walker

A view of Levington with the tide out and blue skies

Jesse Walker

tree blossoms in the foreground over looking hedges and reeds with large cranes in the distant background

Jesse Walker

Greenshank - Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

Greenshank - Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

Dunlin - Peter Cairns/2020VISION

Dunlin - Peter Cairns/2020VISION

Levington Lagoon Nature Reserve

This brackish lagoon by the River Orwell was formed as a result of a breach in the sea wall during the notorious 1953 floods, which affected much of the east coast of England.

Location

Bottom of Strattonhall Drift, off Church Lane, Levington
Felixstowe
Suffolk
IP10 0LH

OS Map Reference

TM238389

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A static map of Levington Lagoon Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
5 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Small car park close to site entrance off Stratton Hall Drift.
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Walking trails

Grass track on river wall to reserve viewpoint is part of local public footpath route.

Generally quite level, but can be slippery after rain.

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Access

Not suitable for wheelchairs.

No drone flying without express permission.
(Permission will only be granted in exceptional circumstances)

If you'd like to visit this reserve as a group, please contact us in advance.

Find out why we ask you to keep your dog on a short lead at most of our reserves and why this is important for wildlife conservation. Why we ask dogs are kept on a lead

Dogs

image/svg+xmlOn a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

All year round

About the reserve

Simply one of the best places for estuarine birds on the Orwell. This brackish lagoon by the River Orwell was formed as a result of a breach in the sea wall during the notorious 1953 floods, which affected much of the east coast of England. This sensitive site is a magnet for breeding, wintering and passage estuarine birds of which there are exceptional numbers and variety.

For this reason Levington Lagoon makes a fantastic bird-watching site throughout the year. Seasonal specialities include greenshank, spotted redshank, dunlin, short-eared owl and flocks of pipit. You may also be lucky enough to spot kingfisher which seem to be something of a ‘regular’ here. Saltmarsh plants include lilac drifts of sea lavender (which unlike its inland cousin has no scent) and sea purslane. Suffolk Wildlife Trust looks after this site by controlling water levels via a system of sluices to encourage wading birds.

Levington Lagoon is cared for by Suffolk Wildlife Trust on behalf of Suffolk Yacht Harbour Ltd.

Contact us

Suffolk Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01473 890089

Location map