Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Produced April 2019 Ranscombe Farm Reserve Unit 3, Tannery Court Business Centre, Knight Road, Strood, Rochester, Kent ME2 2JH www.plantlife.org.uk/ranscombe email: [email protected] Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RanscombeFarm Follow us on Twitter at @Ranscombe_Farm Plantlife International - The Wild Plant Conservation Charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, Charity Number: 1059559. Registered in Scotland, Charity Number: SC038951 Registered Company Number: 3166339. Registered in England and Wales CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 2 2. Site Description ....................................................................................... 3 2.1. Site general description – location, size, boundaries, tenure .................................. 3 2.2. Ranscombe’s importance for biodiversity ........................................................ 5 Plants .................................................................................................. 5 Plants of conservation importance at Ranscombe Farm Reserve ............................. 6 Animals ................................................................................................ 7 Habitats ................................................................................................ 9 Arable farmland ...................................................................................... 9 Grassland .............................................................................................. 9 Woodland ............................................................................................ 10 Interfaces between habitats ...................................................................... 11 2.3. Ranscombe’s landscape and historical importance ........................................... 12 Landscape ........................................................................................... 12 Archaeological and historical features .......................................................... 12 Land-use history .................................................................................... 13 2.4. Ranscombe’s importance for people ............................................................. 14 Public use – access provision, visitor numbers ................................................. 14 Visitor Appeal and Suitability for Access ....................................................... 14 Access Provision .................................................................................... 15 Visitor Facilities .................................................................................... 16 Delivering management of the site .............................................................. 17 3. Aims and Action Plan .............................................................................. 18 3.1. Vision and aims ..................................................................................... 18 3.2. Action for biodiversity, landscape and heritage ............................................... 19 Arable farmland .................................................................................... 19 Grassland - grazing ................................................................................. 19 Grassland - cutting ................................................................................. 20 Woodland – coppicing and open space .......................................................... 21 Woodland – veteran trees ......................................................................... 22 Control of invasive plants ......................................................................... 22 Other activities supporting biodiversity and landscape ...................................... 22 Monitoring wildlife and assessing success ..................................................... 23 Supporting archaeological studies .............................................................. 23 3.3. Action to create a welcoming place .............................................................. 24 Improving visitor facilities ........................................................................ 24 Improving access for all ........................................................................... 24 3.4. Action to keep the site well-maintained, clean, safe and secure ............................ 25 Site safety ........................................................................................... 25 Cleanliness, litter and dog-fouling .............................................................. 25 3.5. Action to involve the community ................................................................ 26 Activities on site .................................................................................... 26 Opportunities for volunteering ................................................................... 26 Interpretation and keeping in touch ............................................................ 27 3.6. Managing the Process .............................................................................. 27 Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Page 1 of 27 1. Introduction Ranscombe Farm Reserve is Plantlife’s flagship nature reserve and its largest nature reserve in England. The third iteration of the reserve management plan runs from 2018 to 2023, and is a large and technical document with provides a detailed description and analysis of the site’s biological and cultural interest and its importance as accessible open space serving the people of the Medway Towns and beyond. This Summary Management Plan has been prepared in order to provide a non-technical and shortened version of the full management plan. It is intended to be more accessible and readable than the full plan, while still covering all the relevant detail. Electronic copies of the full management are available on request, using the contact details on page 2 of this document. Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Page 2 of 27 2. Site Description 2.1. Site general description – location, size, boundaries, tenure Ranscombe Farm Reserve is a large protected site which serves both to conserve some of the UK’s most important wildlife and to provide extensive public access to the countryside. The site is of national importance for its arable habitats and woodland, and is particularly important for rare wild plants associated with arable farmland, for which the site is of international significance. Further details of the site’s designated conservation status are available as an appendix. Situated to the west of the Medway Towns, it measures some 260 hectares (640 acres) in extent, and is bounded to the east by the High Speed Rail Link and the built-up part of Strood, and to the south by the Chatham-Victoria mainline railway and the village of Cuxton. To the west it abuts the National Trust’s holding of Cobham Wood and Mausoleum. Approximately 130 ha (321 acres) of the site is woodland, of which the majority is ancient woodland, though most of the woodland at Mill Hill dates from the mid-19th Century, while two small blocks on the eastern edge of the site consist of woodland planting associated with the construction of the High Speed Rail Link in the 1990s. Around 90 ha (222 acres) of the site is arable farmland, which is managed commercially by a tenant farmer. 38 ha (94 acres) of the site consists of grassland, some 14ha of which is in the lease held by the tenant farmer, while 23 is seasonally grazed by the farmer under a grazing licence. The site is in the freehold of Medway Council and Plantlife. The Medway land is leased to Plantlife, who are responsible for the management of the whole site. Details of land tenure are available as an appendix. Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Page 3 of 27 Figure 1. Aerial image of Ranscombe Farm Reserve (outlined red), with key place-names. Cobham Wood & Mausoleum (National Trust) Cobham Woods Strood Head Barn Birch Wood The Plotlands Wood Kitchen Magpie Field Clary Shaw Field Merrals Brockles Field Shaw Mill Hill The Main Knock entrance Cuxton Ranscombe Farm Reserve Management Plan 2018-23 (Summary Version) Page 4 of 27 2.2. Ranscombe’s importance for biodiversity Plants Ranscombe has for many years been known as a site of major importance for rare and threatened wild flowers, especially those wild flowers associated with arable farmland. Twelve species of wild flowers found at Ranscombe are included on the UK ‘Red List’ because they are under threat of extinction. Of these, eight are plants mainly associated with the arable farmland, including ground-pine, broad-leaved cudweed, narrow-fruited cornsalad, fine-leaved fumitory and prickly poppy. Others, associated with grassland and woodland, include fly orchid, man orchid and lady orchid. A further twenty-five species are listed as ‘near- threatened’ or included on other schedules of rare or threatened species, such as the Kent Rare Plant Figure 2. Man orchid Register. These include arable farmland plants such as blue pimpernel, corncockle, corn-mint and rough mallow, but also a good number of plants associated with grassland such as harebell, clustered bellflower and burnet rose. Ranscombe is particularly important