Did You Say “Bats”?
The Railway Tunnel, which was built between 1845 and 1850, once served as a servant tramway in order to transfer coal around the Manor. Currently, it has become a home for protected hibernating bats. Before the tunnel’s refurbishment, during a mandatory survey, researchers discovered some bats hibernating in the cracks of the wall. Surveys of hibernating bats are now carried out annually in January and February by the Lincolnshire Bat Group. Visitors are not allowed inside the Railway Tunnel during the hibernation season of November to March (inclusive) in fear of disturbing the bats.
Hibernating Bats
During a recent survey, a small number of bats—pipstrelles (brown, long-eared bats) and one barbastelle (a rare bat at the northern edge of its range in southern and central Lincolnshire) were found in the railway, hibernating.
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