Suffolk Flora Trust owns and manages two reserves in Suffolk, Simpson’s Fromus Valley, Kelsale and Orchid Glade at White House Farm, Hasketon. Both reserves are registered as organic land with the Soil Association.
The Suffolk Flora Trust greatly values its friends and guardians. With your help the trust will be able to preserve the special sites it already maintains, purchase and protect new sites and improve the diversity of flora and fauna in Suffolk for many years to come.
Simpson’s Fromus Valley
Past
This reserve is the last remnant of a 500 acre medieval deer park transacted by a monumental earthwork constructed in the 12th Century. The earthwork was built for Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, to dam the river and create a fishery. The Bigod’s first estate was at Kelsale, before they acquired Framlingham.
The dam was breached in the 19th Century so the meadow beneath the lake emerged once more and is still referred to by an old name of Meremede. The diverted Fromus, cut into a deep wooded gorge now runs around a high circular mound forming one end of the still impressive earthwork. In his book, The Suffolk Landscape, Norman Scarfe refers to this earthwork as “formidable as Dunwich’s town rampart”.
Present
Simpson’s Fromus Valley is a beautifully preserved wildlife site in a hidden Suffolk valley with meadows, woodland, ancient trees and ponds. The river Fromus runs through a wooded gull out into the meadows.
Before Suffolk Flora Trust purchased the land in 2005 the site was not managed for conservation purposes. Since acquiring the land the trust has installed a boundary fence, surrounding the whole reserve, the pastures have been enclosed and a water supply provided. This allows conservation grazing by Suffolk Flora Trust’s rare breed herd of British White cattle. Species rich meadows are a priority habitat having declined in the United Kingdom by 97% since the 1950s. The meadows at Simpson’s Fromus Valley are carefully managed to encourage the return of diverse flora and interrelated fauna and hay cutting and grazing is a vital part of that management.
The 27 acres at Fromus Valley now support over 50 bird species including endangered species such as bullfinch, yellowhammer and skylark. The site provides a wildlife haven amid intensively farmed arable land attracting high numbers of passing migrant birds in the winter, including fieldfares and redwings and acting as a refuge for resident bird species. A stagnant pond has been de-silted back to its clay base and scrub and trees cleared or coppiced to allow more light into the pond. Interesting emergent and marginal plants such as thread-leaved water crowfoot, branch bur-reed and pink water speedwell are expected to re-colonise.
Orchid Glade
Past
Orchid Glade reserve lies at the eastern edge of White House Farm at Hasketon near Woodbridge. Once part of the Boulge Hall Estate this tenanted farm was sold in 1927. It was purchased at auction by the Palmer family who owned the land until Tom Palmer’s death in 1992. Following an accident in the 1950s Tom Palmer was unable to continue cultivating the land. The field now known as Orchid Glade was left with the plough furrows from the final cultivation and these can still be seen today. Because of its history the land escaped the intensive farming practices which evolved in the 1950s, including use of artificial fertiliser and pesticides, so allowing the natural wild flora to return.
The land changed hands in 1993 and was managed for nature conservation by Mr. and Mrs. Laurie Parker who sold it to the Trust in 2005 so that it could continue as a nature reserve.
Present
Orchid Glade is a 10 acre meadow with young woodland and forms part of White House Farm which is a County Wildlife Site and another of Suffolk’s hidden gems.
The trust is undertaking a meadow restoration project in Orchid Glade clearing areas of young ash and alder regeneration. As you would expect Orchid Glade has impressive displays of orchids and a recently created pond supports great crested newts also attracting a wide variety of dragonflies and damselflies. A corner of Orchid Glade lying within a high fence shows the result of woodland regeneration without any impact from grazing animals.
Adjacent are over 40 acres of White House Farm’s species-rich meadows including 7 species of orchids – leopard, pyramidal, southern marsh, spotted, bee and twayblade. Many other plants once familiar in other Suffolk meadows include ragged robin, self heal, ox-eye daisies and grass vetchling. White House Farm is managed by The Sinfield Nature Conservation Trust which shares resources with Suffolk Flora Trust to facilitate conservation work at minimum cost.
Future
The trust would like to fence Orchid Glade to allow the British White cattle to graze in late summer as part of the grassland management which controls scrub and benefits the flora. The hedges require coppicing to prolong their life and improve the habitat for birds and small mammals.
The trust would like to acquire additional land, currently intensive arable fields, which surround Simpson’s Fromus Valley. The trust’s aim is to demonstrate arable reversion to species-rich lowland meadows. This work will present a good opportunity for research and the Trust will involve survey groups in the process.