Pittington Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 in County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It lies adjacent to the village of Pittington

Pittington

Pittington is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles north-east of Durham.Pittington is made up of the neighbouring settlements of Low Pittington and High Pittington...

, some 6 km north-east of Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 city. A disused quarry occupies part of the site.

The hill slopes and former quarry support an extensive area of primary magnesian limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 grassland. Blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, a characteristic plant of such grassland, is present but not abundant in the primary grassland on the hill slopes, where herbs such as rock-rose, Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium is a species of rockrose , native to most of Europe.-Description:It is an evergreen trailing plant with loose terminal clusters of bright yellow, saucer-shaped flowers...

, are more common; blue moor-grass is more plentiful in the secondary grassland on the quarry floor and spoil heaps, where it is associated with species such as quaking grass, Briza media

Briza media

Briza media is a perennial grass in the family Poaceae and is a species of the genus Briza.Common name includes Quaking-grass, Cow-quake, Didder, Dithering-grass, Dodder-grass, Doddering Dillies, Doddle-grass, Earthquakes, Jiggle-joggles, Jockey-grass, Lady's-hair, Maidenhair-grass, Pearl Grass,...

, salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor, and autumn gentian, Gentianella amarella.