When extraction ceased, the area was taken over by Durham Wildlife Trust, which developed the Low Barns Nature Reserve, on the site.

[2] Being part of the river's floodplain, the area is underlain by riverine sands and gravels, which were formerly extracted; the abandoned workings were subsequently inundated, creating three lakes which are an important feature of the SSSI.

[1] On the northern edge of the SSSI, a belt of mature woodland was left when the river abandoned its former channel.

In wetter areas, scrub woodland, consisting of a mix of Alder and Willows, Salix spp, is developing.

The dominant grass species are False Oat-grass, Arrhenatherum elatius, and Common Bent, Agrostis capillaris, but a variety of herbs are present, including extensive patches dominated by three orchids, Northern Marsh, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Common Spotted, D. fuchsii, and Early Purple, Orchis mascula.