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Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve A unique place to explore... A Nature Journal brought to you by Photo Ann Power Ann Photo BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 1 1 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:16 16:41 What makes Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve so unique? Welcome Brown’s Folly NR was the first site purchased by Designated as an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Avon Wildlife Trust when the Trust formed in 1980. Interest), Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve is a unique This 40 hectare site is home to a range of wildlife that site for wildlife and geology located on the edge of depend on the unique limestone grasslands, ancient Bathford and Monkton Farleigh, near Bath. woodlands and cave systems within the reserve. This booklet is a guide to the reserve, helping you Contents Ancient woodlands to explore what it has to offer all year round and is What makes Brown’s Folly packed with outdoor activities. NR so unique? ....................2 Wild thyme, harebell and several species of orchid How to get there Welcome ................................3 cover the old spoil heaps from the mines. History ....................................4 Caves and exposed limestone Bathford Bats at Brown’s Folly .......6 The geology of the site is of national importance, with 2 exposed limestone rock at several places throughout Spring .....................................8 3 Prospect the reserve. Place Summer .............................. 12 Brown’s Folly Autumn ............................... 16 Monkton Located on the lower slopes of the reserve these Farleigh N Winter .................................. 20 woodlands are more than 100 years old with a 0 100m 500m diverse mix of tree species. Treasure hunt ................... 24 Unlike most of the woodland on the upper slopes, Scorecard ........................... 26 From the A363 Bradford Road, turn onto Bathford that has grown over the last 50-60 years, you can Hill (by the Crown pub). Follow the road for roughly Special trees ..................... 27 see a greater variety of trees and enjoy the colour 1000m, passing the Bathford Cooperative Shop and and scent of many different woodland flowers. The Local stories ...................... 28 The Clothes Horse. Then turn right onto Prospect woods are also home to a variety of birds. Extensive mining has resulted in vast underground Place which leads up a steep, narrow road to Community information .. 30 Grasslands cave systems, which are home to a variety of bats, Monkton Farleigh. The car park is near the brow of In the centre of Brown’s Folly NR are 3-4 acres of including the rare greater horseshoe bat. Damp cliff the hill on your right. Please be aware that there is a Thank you .......................... 31 open grasslands, rich in wildflowers and insects. faces support a variety of ferns, fungi and spiders. 2.2 m height restriction barrier. Ann Power Ann BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 2 2-3 15/08/2012 16:41 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 3 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:18 16:41 Did The reserve would have been a very you World War II Present day History loud, dusty industrial place, with Stone know Before WWII Brown’s Folly and Monkton Farleigh Some of the abandoned mines have collapsed; Named after the striking tower built by Wade Colonel lots of people and horses working in quarried were known as Farleigh Down Quarry. In 1937 the however, the caves now offer an important habitat for Browne in 1848, set at the heart of the reserve, the site the mines, very different to how it is from the caves were converted into ammunition stores with bats. has a rich history shaped by its geological importance. today. Extracted stone was dragged reserve was the looming threat of war. The story starts 170 million years ago... by horses out of Brown’s Folly NR During the 1980s Avon Wildlife Trust purchased the used for the and the stone was transported via Royal Engineers strengthened the underground reserve and have since been managing the site to Jurassic period facade at railway to the River Avon, where it pillars and walls; conveyer belts, air conditioning, support bat populations and preserving the wildlife at Buckingham During the Jurassic period 170 million years ago, was ferried out to cities. lighting, power generators were installed, new floors the site for the public to enjoy. Palace. the area was covered by a warm, tropical sea. These were laid and the mines were painted white. There The removal of vast quantities of History of Browne’s Folly... what is it?! conditions allowed limestone to form. was also a mile long tunnel connecting Monkton stone until the mines closed in 1920 Farleigh mine with the railway line at Ashley. During The Nature Reserve is named after the tower The type of limestone here is called the Great Oolite has created a huge network of underground caves that the war the caves offered a secure, bombproof, secret ‘Browne’s Folly’ known locally as the ‘Pepperpot Group. An ooid (named after the Greek word for egg) extend to ~85 km, beyond Brown’s Folly NR into the place to store military ammunition. Tower’. The tower was built in 1848 by Colonel Wade is a small spherical particle made up of a small piece of surrounding area. Browne, High Sheriff of the counties of Somerset and shell, which has layers of calcite built up around it. 4 Wiltshire. He lived in Monkton Farleigh House from 5 It makes good building stone and was extracted locally 1836 until his death in 1851. c.70 AD by the Romans when they occupied Britain A folly is an extravagant building built for decoration (c.40-410 AD). You can rather than practical use. Colonel Browne had see it in the Roman Nick McCamley Nick McCamley Nick the folly constructed by his workers to keep them Baths in the City of employed during an agricultural recession. It enabled Bath. him to admire the commanding local view. Industrial Revolution Bathford Society Bathford The folly is now owned by the Folly Fellowship. Prior to and during the Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th centuries) limestone «the person who owned the land got his workers to was extensively Tramway at nearby Monkton Farleigh c. 1886. An underground railway junction known as Clapham build the Pepperpot as they did not have a job to do» The tramway was used to transport stone extracted from Junction. Before the railway, horse-drawn wagons were Pupil from Churchfield’s Primary School. extracted from mines in the area Brown’s Folly NR. used to move the stone. Conveyor belts transported ammunition within the mines. BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 4 4-5 15/08/2012 16:41 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 5 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:21 16:41 BAT FACT BAT FACT night to feed. Bats need Greater Horseshoe Bat Bats at Brown’s Folly NR to find their food close One of the UK’s largest bats: about the size British bats are endangered. Their populations are Old Boris Natural pest to where they roost of a small pear, with a wingspan of 35-40 declining due to habitat loss and the decline in Boris, the oldest greater horseshoe bat control as they use up a lot of cm. Named after the horseshoe-shaped nose that it uses for echolocation. This bat invertebrates due to loss of wildflower meadows. This is recorded in Britain, was recorded at Brown’s energy flying - this is why Brown’s Folly NR is so important. Pipestrelle bats eat why the grasslands are flies low to the ground to catch large moths, Folly NR. Boris was ringed in 1976 and beetles and craneflies. rediscovered at the reserve in January 2000. about 3000 insects so important. each night, making Brown’s Folly is a crucial stronghold for «Bats are nocturnal: they come out at night. They them important pest Bats use echolocation to greater horseshoe bats as 10% of the British If bats are disturbed during the winter, when there are controllers. navigate in the dark and population live here. feed on insects so where they live here (Brown’s no insects to feed on, then they may use up valuable find food. They use high Folly) is a good habitat» energy reserves, causing them to starve. Important pitched ‘shouts’ which parts of the cave system at Brown’s bounce back off nearby objects. Bats use these echoes Lesser Horseshoe Bat Pupil from Churchfield’s Primary School. Folly NR are grilled to minimise to build a mental map of their environment. Rare in the UK and like the disturbance. Bats are very agile in the air thanks to their incredible greater horseshoe, it is also named after its horseshoe- Habitat Brown’s Folly NR is a very wings, which have evolved from their hands. They can 6 like nose. However, it is one 7 The old mines at Brown’s Folly NR make excellent important EU designated site catch their prey mid-air and sometimes even use their of Britain’s smallest bats: homes for bats. because of its over wintering bat tail to scoop up insects. the size of a small plum, populations. In spring, bats emerge with a wing span of 20-25 cm. It hunts close to the These caves are especially important during winter Bat species from hibernation to feed over the ground as well as throughout the tree canopy. as bats use them as hibernation roosts. The caves grasslands, and during the summer There are 17 species of provide the stable temperatures that bats need so they make maternity bats in the UK and 13 Bechstein’s Bat that they can conserve their energy by slowing down roosts in the buildings, of them live at Brown’s their breathing, dropping their BAT FACT barns and trees of Bath.

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