Fordham Hall Estate - Fordham, nr Colchester
Site Description
Fordham Hall Estate covers and area of approximately 200 ha (505 acres) on the northern side of the river Colne to the northwest of Colchester in Essex. The Colne Valley is a primarily agricultural landscape, with significant amounts of pasture, especially between Colchester and Earls Colne. Upstream of Earls Colne the emphasis is more on arable cultivation. Fordham Parish itself has very little woodland but elsewhere in the valley there are a large number of small woods and three notable concentrations: the Marks Hall complex, Chalkney Wood and the Broaks/Shardlowes.
The Estate is located on flat and gently sloping land along the southern margin of glacial drift that overlies London clay at depth. The estate is orientated mainly in a north-south direction and the various fields occupy all levels of the valley from the flood meadows adjacent to the river as far as the flat plateau at high level. For the size of the site the geology is relatively diverse. The majority of the soils are developed on either moderately heavy glacial boulder clay drift or sandy river terrace deposits laid down within the last 50 000 years. However the River Colne cuts through London clay lay down in the Tertiary period, approximately 50-60 million years ago, and this deeper clay can be identified in the subsoil of much of the land on the plateau and even outcrops at the surface in one field to the south-east of the reservoir. Ten different soils series have been identified across the site (ADAS 2003). Broadly speaking most of the soil types will support W8 woodland types with some smaller areas of W10 on the lighter more acidic soils that occur across the site. The tendency to spring and winter water logging of some on the more clayey types, supports the creation of local woodland types such as plateau alderwood.
Average annual rainfall: 557mm
A feature of the site is that virtually the whole area has been under arable cultivation for some centuries. The Chapman and André map of 1777, shows the lack of woodland or other habitat at that time. The 1840 Tythe map shows the estate are to have been primarily an arable landscape, although most of the fields were considerably smaller and consequently there was a much greater length of hedgerows. There were a small number of pastures and one area, the Grove, is shown as wood pasture. All of these have now gone, replaced by arable that in recent years has grown a wide range of arable crops including cereals, oilseed rape, beans, potatoes and sugar beet.
All along the northern bank of the river were meadows, one of which were called Woolpit Meadow and are shown as having been divided up into strips each owned by a different person. This indicates seasonally inundated and therefore highly productive hay meadows owned and managed by various members of the local community. It can be reasonably assumed that the management of this meadow had been similar for many years and that the resulting grassland would have been particularly species rich. This meadow is now the location of a small area of marsh that developed following the abandoning of farming in the field in 1997 and the others are either in set-aside or have been planted with Cricket Bat Willows.
While arable farmland makes up the majority of the site there are a number of significant natural features on the site that form a backbone on which conservation plan can be built. Features of note are:
Existing hedgerows: There are around 15 km of hedgerows across the site varying from close clipped hedges to rambling linear copses containing 41 different woody species and climbers. A number of these are clearly ancient with one, at least, from map evidence the remnant of an ASNW cleared over the last 200 years. Hedgerow trees are a common but not abundant feature along the hedges.
River Colne: Approximately 1.97 km of the site bounds onto the river Colne. While for a lowland river the Colne is relatively clean levels of nutrients, especially Phosphorous, are high. The river has moderately good fish populations and Otters resident along it but Water Voles appear to be extinct or at least very rare as a result of predation by mink that are frequent along the valley
Floodplain: Approximately 8 ha of land adjacent to the River Colne is susceptible to flooding in winter. One area has already developed into marshland with local and regionally uncommon plants and birds since arable management was abandoned in 1997. Research in 2003 demonstrated that while the soils are suitable for wetland development problems over water quality mean that we are restricted in the range of habitat creation options without very considerable extra expense to import water onto the site.
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Proximity to ASNW: The estate is situated amidst a lesser cluster of ASNW’s with one small (<2ha) ASNW (Rectory Wood) immediately adjacent and two other larger woods Fiddlers Wood and Hillhouse wood within a 100m and 400m respectively of the site. Hoe Wood, which is within a 2km of the site and Hillhouse wood, are both owned by the WT. The site also abuts a small Valley alder carr on a minor tributary of the Colne on the west of the site.
Cricket Bat Willow stands: There are two mature cricket bat willow stands on the site, one alongside the river Colne and one alongside one of the mapped streams on the site. The two stands are the only ‘mature woodland’ on the site and are well located for hosting bat and bird boxes and also as possible Otter holts.
Mapped streams: Two mapped streams run through the site and one touches the north-western boundary of the site in one section. There are also a number of permanent and seasonal ponds over the site with the soil conditions in many parts predisposed to seasonal water logging offering opportunities for further seasonal pond creation at least. Nutrient levels in the streams was tested in 2003 and found to be acceptable for use in high quality wetland and pond habitats.
Off-site opportunities: The river valley context of the estate, the close proximity of the WT owned woodland as well as other ASNW and the need to manage deer and mink at a landscape level highlights the desirability that we consider some aspects of conservation management outside from our immediate landholding. Key opportunities to investigate are the potential of integrating river corridor management with landowners on the southern bank of the Colne, including bat conservation work through the creation of hibernacula in WW II bunkers.
The site is crisscrossed by 10.5km of PROW with as many again permissive footpaths. Horse riding has been allowed on a network of permissive bridleways operating within the auspices of the East Anglican Toll ride scheme. It is proposed that an ‘open access’ policy be operated at Fordham with people allowed to walk, ride and cycle across the site. However where there is a need e.g. due to undue wear or tear on paths or public safety, access will be restricted through use of fencing and gates to steer users onto more appropriate routes.
Due to the phased conversion of the site to woodland and grassland and the substantial changes this may cause to the way people access and use the site it is proposed that access improvements, such as surfaced path provision, are developed over a period of 5-10 years once we can better see how people respond to the changes in the way they use the site.
