Great Crested newts at Tattershall Castle

Since the 1940s, populations of northern crested newts have declined in most of Europe due to loss of habitat. Today this is a European Protected Species, only discovered at Tattershall in 2003, this population is possibly the largest in Lincolnshire if not the East Midlands.

These newts have dark grey-brown backs and flanks, and are covered with darker-coloured spots so they appear almost black. Their undersides are either yellow- or orange-coloured and are covered in large, black blotches, which have a unique pattern in each individual.