SShheellddoonn FFiieelldd CCrrooppwweellll BBuuttlleerr DDRRAAFFTT MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPllaann 22001133 –– 22001177 Sheldon Field Acknowledgements Rushcliffe Borough Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust would like to thank the many organisations and individuals who were involved in the development of this management plan For further information about this site and it’s management please contact: The Sheldon Field Management Committee Page 2 of 24 Sheldon Field CONTENTS: PART 1: SITE DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................... 4 1.1 Location............................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Map Coverage ..................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Size...................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Ownership/Tenure............................................................................................... 4 1.5 Local Planning Authority .................................................................................... 4 1.6 Soil and geology .............................................................................................… 4 1.7 Aspect, topography and altitude.......................................................................... 5 1.8 Statutory Designations…..................................................................................... 5 1.9 Non-statutory Designations ................................................................................ 5 1.10 Access................................................................................................................. 5 1.11 Surrounding Land use......................................................................................... 5 1.12 Summary of Resource ........................................................................................ 5 PART 2: EVALUATION & OBJECTIVES............................................................................ 7 2.1 Evaluation of site features (Ratcliffe’s Criteria)................................................ 7 2.1.1 Size .................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Diversity ............................................................................................................ 7 2.1.3 Naturalness ........................................................................................................ 9 2.1.4 Rarity................................................................................................................. 9 2.1.5 Fragility ............................................................................................................. 9 2.1.6 Typicalness........................................................................................................ 9 2.1.7 Position in an ecological/ geographical unit...................................................... 9 2.1.8 Potential value ................................................................................................... 9 2.1.9 Intrinsic appeal ................................................................................................. 10 2.1.10 Recorded History.............................................................................................. 10 2.2 Objectives......................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Factors affecting Management ......................................................................... 12 2.4 Management Proposals..................................................................................... 13 PART 3: MANAGEMENT DETAILS 3.1 Management Projects & Prescriptions............................................................... 15 3.2 Five Year Work Plans........................................................................................ 17 3.3 Annual Work Plans ............................................................................................ 18 APPENDICES: Appendix 1 Site Location Map Appendix 2 Compartment Map Appendix 3 Botanical List Appendix 4 Sheldon Field Invertebrate List Page 3 of 24 Sheldon Field PART 1 SITE DESCRIPTION 1.1 LOCATION Sheldon Field is located off Main Street in the village of Cropwell Butler, Near Bingham, Nottinghamshire. 1.2 MAP COVERAGE Sheldon Field can be found on Ordnance Survey Maps: At grid reference SK 686 372 (centre of site). • Land ranger (1:50,000) sheet 129 • Explorer (1:25,000) sheet 260 See Appendix 1 for map of location. 1.3 SIZE The site is 4.4 hectares (10.7 acres) in size. 1.4 OWNERSHIP/TENURE The site is solely owned by National Playing Fields Association and run as a Charitable Trust by The Sheldon Field Management Committee made up from locally elected representatives of the villages of Cropwell Butler and Tithby. 1.5 LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY The whole site is within the boundary of Rushcliffe Borough Council planning authority. 1.6 SOIL AND GEOLOGY The entire site is underlain by a veneer of superficial deposits. These are predominantly Colluvium (also known as ‘Head’) comprising mostly silt and clay (minor sand and ‘gravel). It is derived as a ‘weathering’ product from underlying bedrock or upslope materials (Colluvium tends to accumulate in valleys and on slopes by a combination of weathering and gravity). The southern boundary of the area is underlain by a strip of alluvial deposits (associated with a small stream). These alluvial materials can vary noticeable with depth, but in this area are likely to comprise mostly silt and clay, with lenses of organic and/or gravelly (siltstone fragments) material. The Superficial deposits are underlain by a bedrock mudstone and dolomitic siltstone of the Edwalton Member. This rock is of Triassic age and forms part of the Mercia Mudstone Group. The Bedrock (and superficial deposits that are derived from it by weathering) give rise to a distinctive red-brown silty soil. Where the dolomitic siltstone is more prevalent, the soil can take on a grey-green or grey-brown hue and is notably rich in siltstone fragments. Page 4 of 24 Sheldon Field he underlying rocks were formed in the Triassic period between 248 and 205 million years ago. The Triassic period was characterised by heat, vast deserts and warm seas. The bedrock in this area is termed Edwalton Member Mudstone. This consists of mudstone and siltstone which is red-brown and greenish grey, with beds of indurated, variably dolomitic siltstone and very fine-grained sandstone which is common in the lower half whereas finely disseminated gypsum is common in upper half (Lawley, R. (2012)). 1.7 ASPECT, TOPOGRAPHY AND ALTITUDE Sheldon Field lies around 30 metres above sea level and is a relatively flat site with a raised area near the north east corner. The northern part of the site has small undulations from historic ridge and furrow farming. 1.8 STATUTORY DESIGNATIONS There are no statutory designations associated with Sheldon Field, although it may be possible to designate the site as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, this act allows local authorities to designate land as a LNR so long as there is at least local wildlife interest and un-restricted public access, it is desirable that the land is owned by the local authority but not essential so long as the local authority has a long term lease or formal involvement in the site. 1.9 NON-STATUTORY DESIGNATIONS There are no non-statutory designations with Sheldon field. 1.10 ACCESS Sheldon Field is accessible by vehicle and on foot from Main Street, Cropwell Butler. Improvements and widening of this access have previously been made. Access can also be gained on foot from two public footpaths which cross the site running North / South and West /East. 1.11 SURROUNDING LANDUSE The land surrounding Sheldon Field is dominated by grazing paddocks and arable fields. 1.12 SUMMARY OF RESOURCE Sheldon Field consists of habitats including grassland, hedgerow, scrub and ditches. A more detailed site description including the compartments described later in the management plan is below (See Appendix 2). Page 5 of 24 Sheldon Field Compartment 1 Compartment 1 contains an area of ridge & furrow grassland. This area had previously been sheep grazed, however the sheep were removed approximately three years ago as they were damaging small sapling trees. This area has not been managed since sheep were used and therefore a thatch of dead grass developed which is suppressing any wildflowers present and allowing the courser grasses and weed species to increase. This area already has a number of thistles growing throughout this compartment. Some form of annual grassland management regime will be required in this compartment. Compartment 2 This compartment contains the rough grassland edges around the site including boundary hedgerows, ditches & planted standard trees. Rough grassland edges There are areas near the eastern edge of the site where Blackthorn scrub is spreading into the site and where cherry saplings have suckered. The rough grassland edges are important habitat for small mammals, birds and insects although there are now large areas of creeping thistle that are beginning to dominate particularly on the eastern side of the site. Hedgerows Stretches of hedgerow on both the eastern and western boundaries