Organic Countryside CIC Saffron Walden - Sewards End A “Living Landscape” conservation plan The Saffron Walden Living Landscapes Area Land bounded by the Ashdon & Radwinter Roads and Redgates Lane Introduction This block of land has great importance, for wildlife conservation, landscape and public enjoyment of the countryside reasons: • Wildlife: it contains ten local wildlife sites one of which is proposed for extension to cover a block of ancient woodland and flower-rich meadowland. The whole block of land is in the middle of the corridor section of the Essex Living Landscapes Oxlip Woods zone • Landscape: It is, for Essex, high ground with an attractive rolling landscape. Abou and a fair proportion under traditional management with grazing sheep. • Access: it is the only area where it is possible to make a round-trip walk on public footpaths (with one sector on a quiet lane) through attractive countryside starting in Saffron Walden and without the need to drive from home to the start point of the walk. Opportunity to improve wildlife conservation and public enjoyment With the creation of Organic Countryside’s community nature reserve and smallholding at Noakes Grove, Redgates Lane and the designation by Essex County Council’s Biodiversity team of the whole area as part of the Essex Living Landscape Oxlip Woods corridor, there is a real opportunity to make the whole area a site for enjoyment by ramblers, while increasing the already high wildlife interest and preserving the agricultural uses. Noakes Grove: This is an 8.6 acre block of land, once part of Sewards End Farm, that is now under the management of Organic Countryside CIC. It uses traditional low-intensity grazing by Wiltshire Horn sheep to maintain the wildlife value of the area. Land adjacent to Noakes Grove On two sides are farm fields, once part of a largely arable farm, that have been convrted to hay meadows with low floral diversity as a result of herbicide spreaying. To the north is a field, crossed by a public footpath, that has been permanent pasture for sheep for many years. Noakes Grove is separated from Redgates Lane by a roadside verge that is specially managed by Essex County Council as a wildflower verge: established to protect the rare crested cow- wheat, the verge is also designated a local wildlife site. A suberb country walk from Saffron Walden See the map on the next page for a walk through some of the loveliest country around Saffron Walden. Start in Saffron Walden (Ashdon Road) or Sewards End Saffron Walden to Sewards End Circuit via two public footpaths (yellow) connected by potential permissive routes (blue) through “Organic Countryside Noakes Grove” and field edge path to west of Pounce Wood. Saffron Walden to Sewards End Living Landscape Tithe map from 1844 showing how woods and many non-arable fields have retained their boundaries 165 years later. The Local Wildlife Sites of the Saffron Walden/Ashdon/Se- wards End Living Landscape Area There are no less than 10 local wildlife sites which were designated by Uttlesford District Council as Local Wildlife Sites folowing their survey and review by the Essex Wilife Trust/ EECOS team in 2007 These sites are hugely important individually but much more so as part of a wider high landscape value area which has retained a fair amount of wildlife rich habitats in the farmland areas as well as i the designated wildlife sites The following pages give full details of the Local Wildlife Sites from the Uttlesford District Council Local Wildlife Site Review 2007 Ashdon Road Verges Ufd124. Ashdon Road Verges (0.09 ha) TL 55223887 to TL 55463890 This group of verges includes the Saffron Walden – Ashdon Road Protected Roadside Verge (West Section) UTT45 and have been designated in rec- ognition of their chalk grassland flora. The most interesting section is at the eastern end and is not currently included within the protected verge. The flora here includes Marjoram (Origanum vulgare*), Greater Knapweed (Centau- rea scabiosa*), Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga), Restharrow (Ononis repens), Hoary Plantain (Plantago media), Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis), Blue Fleabane (Erigeron acer*) and Fairy Flax (Linum catharticum*). Condition and Management Issues: Parts of the site may be impacted upon by any future widening of the access road to the Commercial Centre. Appropri- ate mowing regimes for roadside verges are a perennial problem. This, and all other protected or interesting verges need managing as grassland, not just trimmed as a highway fringe. Nutrient enrichment is likely to be a long-term trend. Date of first designation: 1994 Date of last revision: 30/09/2007 Ufd 135 G60. Ashdon Road Special Roadside Verge (500.0 metres) TL557392 to TL562393 (200.0 metres) TL557392 to TL560392 The chalk flora of these two road verge~ includes Crested Cow-wheat (Mel ampyrum cristatum), Rockrose (Helianthemum nummularium), Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) and Narrow- leaved Everlasting-pea (Lathyrus sylvestris). Date of first designation: 1994 Ufd 193 G77. Ashdon Road Special Roadside Verge (20.0 metres) TL591429 to TL593429 This section of verge has been designated to protect a population of Yellow Archangel (Galeobdolon luteum). Date of first designation: 1994 Pounce Wood Ufd136. Pounce Wood (13.6 ha) TL 559387 This large ancient wood has been almost entirely replanted with Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Spruce (Picea sp.) and other conifers. The native broadleaved canopy of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Field Maple (Acer campestre), Pedun- culate Oak (Quercus robur) and Hazel (Corylus avellana) is restricted to a narrow boundary strip. The ground flora is very restricted under the dense canopy, with only scattered Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) under the Beech. The main rides support a rea- sonable marshy grassland flora, with frequent Wood Sedge (Carex sylvatica) and Remote Sedge (Carex remota). A primary management aim should be the replacement of the exotic species with native trees. Condition and Management Issues: The ground flora is limited by the general- ly dense shade cast by the planted canopy. Replacement with a semi-natural broadleaved canopy and understorey would be highly desirable. Date of first designation: 1994 Date of last revision: 30/09/2007 Whitehill Wood Ufd139. Whitehill Wood (8.1 ha) TL 560393 The canopy of this ancient wood has been almost entirely replaced by coni- fers, with native broadleaved species restricted to narrow strips along the rides and boundary. The latter species include Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Peduncu- late Oak (Quercus robur), Field Maple (Acer campestre) and Hazel (Corylus avellana). The sparse ground flora includes Hairy St. John's-wort (Hypericum hirsutum), Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) and Three-veined Sand- wort (Moehringia trinervia). The nationally scarce Wood Barley (Hordelymus europaeus*) has been recorded in this wood, though has not been recently seen, possibly due to the adverse light conditions under the very dense coni- fer canopy. The site is also notable for the presence of Crested Cow-wheat (Melampyrum cristatum*) along the southern boundary, which forms part of a protected road verge.Condition and Management Issues: The ground flora is limited by the generally dense shade cast by the planted canopy. Replace- ment with a semi-natural broadleaved canopy and understorey would be highly desirable. Date of first designation: 1994 Date of last revision: 30/09/2007 Mollpond Wood Ufd147. Mollpond Wood (2.8 ha) TL 563393 This ancient wood has been extensively replanted with Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) and Pine (Pinus sp.), with only scattered remnants of the native broadleaved canopy remaining. This comprises Hazel (Corylus avel- lana), Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and Field Maple (Acer campestre) with a thin scrub layer of Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Midland Hawthorn (Cratae- gus laevigata) and Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea). The maturing plantation has an increasingly dense canopy that allows a restricted ground flora to flourish, with typical species being Wood False Brome (Brachypodium sylvati- cum), Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis), Hairy St. John's-wort (Hypericum hirsutum) and Bramble (Rubus fruticosus).Condition and Management Issues: The ground flora is limited by the generally dense shade cast by the planted canopy. Replacement with a semi-natural broadleaved canopy and understo- rey would be highly desirable. Date of first designation: 1994 Date of last revision: 30/09/2007 Martin’s Wood Ufd155. Martin's Wood (4.9 ha) TL 565389 This ancient wood has an impoverished ground flora due to dense coniferisa- tion of the canopy. Native broadleaved species such as Field Maple (Acer campestre), Hazel (Corylus avellana) and Goat Willow (Salix caprea) are largely restricted to the boundary banks, where Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) may also be found. A narrow strip of wood to the north of the stream supports a native canopy of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The ground flora is absent over much of the floor, but where slightly better light levels prevail some typical ancient woodland plants such as Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis), Yel- low Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon), Pendulous Sedge (Carex pendula) and Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium) survive. Conversion to a native broadleaved canopy should be an urgent management aim.Condition and Management Issues: The ground flora is limited by the generally dense shade cast by the planted canopy.