The nature reserve was purchased by the RSPB in 1986. It occupies a site where iron ore was mined from c. 1850 until the 1960s.[2] The mining caused subsidence. Flooding increased after the closure of the mine, as the site was no longer dewatered. The reserve continues to be protected from the sea by a seawall built by John Aird & Co. and completed in 1905.[3]
Habitats
Most of the area of the reserve is taken up by Hodbarrow Lagoon, a flooded part of the former mine, which is described as a "coastal lagoon".[4] Some of the reserve is scrubland.[1]
Facilities
There is a car park on the Millom side of the reserve from which you can walk to the seawall. (Alternatively, there is more direct pedestrian access to the seawall from Haverigg).
Lighthouse on the seawall with Duddon Estuary behind
A bird hide is located on the seawall which gives views of the lagoon.
Hodbarrow has breeding populations of terns. It was one of the sites involved in a project funded by the LIFE programme called "LIFE on the edge improving the condition and long-term resilience of key coastal SPAs in S, E and N England". In the case of Hodbarrow, slag was moved to create a new island in the lagoon for the benefit of little, common and sandwich terns.[8]
