THE NORFOLK RIVERS TRUST RESTORING NORFOLK’S RIVERS THE RIVER HUN A WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE LOCAL CATCHMENT PLAN DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WITH SUPPORT FROM THE RIVER STIFFKEY A WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE LOCAL CATCHMENT PLAN | PAGE 1 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Introduction 3 The Water Framework Directive 3 This plan has been produced by Norfolk Rivers Trust in The plan begins by providing an audit of the current state consultation with the Environment Agency, landowners, of the catchment. Information gathered is then used to River statistics 3 and interested local people. The plan provides an outline identify ecological pressures in the catchment. In the for improvement of the ecological status of the Hun, final stages of the plan, solutions to these pressures are THE CATCHMENT guided by the Water Framework Directive. Delivery of the identified, costed and prioritised. actions outlined in the plan will lead to improvements in The community 4 the wildlife and amenity value of the river. Why restore rivers? 4 Overview of restorations options 5 A geological and human history of the catchment 6 Wildlife surrounding the Hun 8 Wildlife profiles 10 THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE The Hun from source to mouth 11 From source in Hunstanton Park – A149 Road Bridge 11 The Water Framework Directive (WFD) was introduced fail to meet good status. In England, the Environment in 2000 and commits European Union member states Agency are responsible for WFD delivery. Most streams A149 Road Bridge start of Holme Nature Reserve 14 to improving the physical and ecological quality of their are assessed by the Environment Agency in detailed Holme Nature Reserve 16 streams, rivers and lakes. Each member state is required Waterbody Reports, however, because the Hun is so to bring its water bodies to good status by 2015. Where small it has not been formally assessed. Therefore, this is not possible, good status must be achieved by this report draws on ad hoc data from some existing THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS 2021 or 2027, depending on the severity of the barrier monitoring and field observations. It forms a first step in to good status. A majority of the UK’s rivers currently understanding the River Hun. River structure 18 Connectivity between the river and the surrounding landscape 18 Fish passage 18 Water quality 19 Ecosystem 19 Invasive species 20 RIVER STATISTICS Trees and woody debris 21 AN ACTION PLAN Approximate river length: 6 km A149 Road Bridge to outfall start of Holme Nature Reserve 22 Protected areas: SSSI (for Esker in Hunstanton Park; Holme Dunes Nature Reserve and Redwell Nature Reserve), Nature reserves and coast are also designated as: SAC, SPA and Holme Nature Reserve 23 Ramsar sites. Costs and timeline 24 Designations: Bathing Waters Directive Author: Olly van Biervliet of Norfolk Rivers Trust This plan has Philip Amies Helen Blower THANKS been enriched by Andrew Brown Rory Sanderson contributions from many different people Gary Hibberd Charles Rangeley Wilson and organisations. Norfolk Rivers Trust Michael Meakin John Dobson would like to thank Tim Holt-Wilson Jonah Tosney all those involved for their help: Lorraine Marks THE RIVER HUN A WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE LOCAL CATCHMENT PLAN | PAGE 3 SECTION 1 THE CATCHMENT OVERVIEW OF RESTORATIONS OPTIONS Summary of possible restoration options on the river Ingol. These proposals will greatly enhance the value, The Hun is a very small chalk stream (6 km) which carries Nevertheless, the river habitat has been degraded water quality and wildlife value of the river. It is stressed its waters from its source in Hunstanton Park to its by centuries of modification and could benefit from that these are subject to landowner consent and are only mouth in Holme Nature Reserve. Wildlife abounds in the conservation work. outline ideas at this stage. surrounding area with a profusion of birdlife in particular. THE COMMUNITY It is part of the Norfolk Rivers Trust’s mission to gain the The River Hun has a rural catchment, containing the active participation of the community to restore their river. towns and villages of Hunstanton, Holme next to the sea Stakeholders help us to set objectives, keep us informed and Thornham within the catchment. So far, we have about issues on the ground such as pollution, and been very pleased with the enthusiasm and participation actively volunteer to make many more worthwhile projects of several locals in the process of planning future possible. conservation work, and would be very happy to hear from anyone who has an interest in conservation around the River Hun WHY RESTORE RIVERS? Britain’s rivers generally fail to reach “good” ecological absorb and process pollutants. This enhances water quality. This is both a problem in itself and a sentinel of quality within limits, however, very polluted rivers have less trouble. wildlife and in turn a reduced capacity to provide such benefits. This leads to a downward spiral. Wildlife itself A well-functioning river system is an inseparable has an intrinsic value and is enjoyed by groups such as combination of good water quality, distinctive physical fishermen, ramblers and bird watchers. processes and diverse wildlife. These factors interact to provide benefits. A naturally functioning river has a If any of the three pillars of the river system are damaged floodplain with sufficient capacity to absorb inundation (water quality, physical processes, ecosystem), then the and to act as a store for silt carried by high flows. The river value of the entire interconnected system is reduced. channel is also self-scouring. This reduces flood risk and Arguably, we also have a responsibility to repair our the need for expensive management. Headwater forests damaged natural heritage for future generations. Thus, reduce surges of water into the system by increasing ecological restoration aims to enhance the functioning, as drainage and removal of water. Moreover, the vegetation, well as the intrinsic value of our beautiful rivers. microbes and invertebrates in the river corridor also PAGE 4 | THE RIVER HUN A WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE LOCAL CATCHMENT PLAN THE RIVER HUN A WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE LOCAL CATCHMENT PLAN | PAGE 5 Some 7,400 years ago sea level started to rise, eventually The open fields were productive and supported a relative A GEOLOGICAL AND flooding the area which is now The Wash, and which had dense human population. The Doomsday population for been an area of woodland. Fluctuations of sea level are the Hunstanton area is amongst the highest in England. HUMAN HISTORY OF THE preserved in sequences of peat and marine clay found exposed on the modern beach at Holme. During the late 1700s and early 1800s a series of CATCHMENT enclosure awards reorganised this landscape with many The coastal plain was several kilometres wide during the of the commons disappearing. Sheep were still the basis Neolithic to Bronze Age (roughly 6000 to 4000 years of fertility but crops such as turnips and rape used with The landscape surrounding the Hun has been formed by ago). Freshwater reeds and alder woods developed clover rotations replaced the commons and fallow. powerful processes acting in the deep past. Overall the from saltmarshes forming peat which was subsequently landscape can be divided into a coastal plain, a slope covered by marine clays as the sea covered the area. In the 1630s Sir Nicholas Le Strange and the Dutch (scarp) and a plateau dissected by now dry valleys caused These fluctuating conditions have preserved a rich series engineer Van Haesdonck built a series of sea banks from by past erosion by streams (during the Ice Age). The scarp of wooden artefacts including the well-known Sea Henge Thornham through Holme to Hunstanton which enabled was a sea cliff in earlier periods before the most recent at Holme. an area of marsh to be drained. A sluice excluded tidal ice age. inflow totally from the river upstream to Hunstanton Hall. During this period, human settlements existed on the The river was canalised from Hunstanton Hall to the At Hunstanton Cliffs, the geological sequence is exposed. higher ground and woodland was cleared over much of sluice and drainage ditches constructed in the river valley The basal Carstone is a sandstone with pebble beds. A the area. By the Iron Age (some 2,500 years ago) the marshes. These sea banks enabled drainage of some red chalk (Hunstanton Formation) is overlain by younger coastline was similar to today, and it is likely that woodland 60 acres. white chalks (Photo 1). had been almost completely cleared. Grazing by livestock on steep chalk and nutrient poor Holme was enclosed in 1820 which had limited impact During the Pleistocene period, 2.6 million to 11,700 years glacial sands formed an extensive series of downs and on the coastal common and the river downstream of the ago, there were some 8 ice ages, with this region either on heaths which developed into common land. The chalk sluice. In 1860 a large part of Hunstanton and Holme the edge of the ice sheet or covered by deep sheets of ice rich till and the gentler slopes with deeper soils eventually Common was enclosed, an embankment was created which extended far to the south. Each ice age has eroded developed into open field systems. from the older 1630 wall west of Thornham Staithe road the deposits of earlier ice ages leaving a partial picture. towards the north joining the dunes near the east of The Poorer soils could be farmed with the addition of lime Broadwater (a former tidal creek). Hunstanton Park contains another fascinating relic of (hence chalk pits) which could make some of the easily glacial times. This is a landform called an esker. An esker Photo 1. Philip Amies Copyright .