Knettishall Heath - A vision for the future

Knettishall Heath

A Vision for the Future

A landscape scale project with Natural England, Forestry Commission, Suffolk County Council and The Brecks Partnership.

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and WREN

Knettishall Heath

Knettishall Heath is one of the largest remaining areas of heathland on the eastern edge of the Brecks, but since the 1940s the heath has undergone an immense amount of change. Over half of the open heath has been lost to woodland and scrub and the river and riverside habitats have become degraded and lost much of their wildlife interest.

Since purchasing Knettishall Heath in 2012, Suffolk Wildlife Trust has been working to develop a long-term vision for the heath that ensures that the remaining high-value habitats are maintained and degraded habitats restored. Public access will be both protected and improved and the landscape significantly enhanced, restoring the context of important archaeological features.

This consultation document sets out a potential future for Knettishall Heath and how this might be achieved. At the heart of this vision is recognition that Knettishall Heath is a uniquely important place which is highly valued by local communities. Therefore, habitat restoration will be a gradual and sensitive process undertaken with great care over a period of years while public access improvements will be implemented quickly.

The Brecks is one of the most distinctive and important landscapes in the UK and this vision for Knettishall Heath shares many of the themes of the Brecks Partnership acknowledging the biodiversity, cultural, archaeological and recreational importance of the heath.

2

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Designated features A significant part of Knettishall Heath is nationally important and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its open Breck heath habitats while two other parts of the reserve are designated as a County Wildlife Site.

SSSIs are selected on the basis of being exceptional examples of particular habitats and are part of a national network of protected sites.

Knettishall Heath has one fully protected Scheduled Ancient Monument, the Bronze Age burial mound known as Hut Hill and in addition there are many other archaeological features.

At the western end of the heath is one of the best preserved examples of ‘patterned ground’.This postglacial feature is particularly well developed and shows itself in the form of stripes of different types of vegetation.This area is recognised as being of regional importance and has been designated as a County Geological Site.

3

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Benefits of the vision

What was once an open landscape of semi-natural habitat has in the last 50 years become a highly compartmentalised patchwork of isolated and fragmented habitats. Our vision for Knettishall Heath is to slowly reverse this process and create an extensive grazed landscape where habitats are connected, where heathland merges into wood pasture and woodland.

Wood-pasture – creating grazed open woodlands from recent woodland Species-rich grassland – restoring and enhancing one of our rarest semi-natural habitats

Darin Smith

Google images

Steve Aylward

Restored heathland habitats managed by grazing

Connecting habitats - encouraging natural vegetation to develop on its preferred soil types.

Increasing species security – creating room for unique Breckland flora and fauna to thrive Making the landscape function more robustly as a natural resource

River corridor – continuing to further enhance the river and adjoining habitats

4

Species

Connectivity

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

People

Martha Cowell

Habitats

Knettishall Heath supports a number of Breck priority species and careful restoration will secure the future of these species. We also hope to encourage nightjar to once again breed on the heath. Notable species include:

Rare spring sedge Tawny wave moth Lunar yellow underwing moth Barbastelle bat Skylark

Access – our vision will keep people connected with and enjoying the heath and increase community involvement Landscape – removing internal fences and opening up views will enhance the site and restore the distinctive Breck landscape Increasing sense of place – Knettishall Heath will be unique in having a ‘New Forest’ like landscape where people and animals can roam freely

Habitat restoration

Current

5

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Future

Breck heath

Knettishall Heath supports a great diversity of Breck heath habitat ranging from purple swathes of heather to wildflower rich grasslands. Grazing is critical to the long-term maintenance and restoration of these habitats and our aim is to extend grazing to most of the open heath and restore areas of heath lost since the 1940s.

Steve Aylward

David Kjaer

Amy Lewis

Knettishall Heath is an important reptile site that potentially supports all four species found in Suffolk. Survey work has confirmed the presence of slow worm, common lizard and grass snake but has yet to prove adder are present on the heath.

6

Dropwort

Nightjar

Nightjar was once a regular breeding bird at Knettishall but a combination of habitat deterioration and disturbance has led to their loss in recent years.

Habitat restoration and reduced disturbance should bring back nightjars together with their distinctive nighttime churring call.

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Breckland moths

norfolkmoths.co.uk

Common lizard

Dropwort is one of many now rare grassland plants that were once widespread in the Brecks.Together with plants such as large thyme, common rock rose, purple milk-vetch and rare spring-sedge the Breck grassland is a rich and diverse habitat that supports an equally wide range of both common and rare invertebrates.

Breckland is home to over 1000 species of moth including some that are found nowhere else in the UK. Knettishall Heath is known to support two of these highly restricted species, the grey carpet moth and the basil-thyme casebearer as well as several species such as the tawny wave for which Breckland is a stronghold.

Lowland wood-pasture

Most of the woodland at Knettishall has either grown up or been planted over the past 50 years and although much is less than 25 years old, amongst the younger trees there are mature oak, beech and pine trees of considerable wildlife value. Some woodland areas and groups of trees are a legacy of the time when Riddlesworth Estate owned the heath.

Wood-pasture is now one of the rarest UK habitats and is known to support a wealth of wildlife ranging from bats and beetles to rare fungi. Our vision for Knettishall would see the creation of 62 acres of wood-pasture from existing woodland areas.

7

Broad-leaved woodland

Two conifer plantations were planted on the heath in the 1950s and surveys have shown these areas have very little wildlife interest. We propose to fell 6 acres of plantation and restore the area to Breck heath. Other areas will be thinned and broadleaved trees encouraged. Distinctive Breckland pine clumps will be retained.

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Woodland species

Davin Smith

Steve Aylward

Conifer plantation

Steve Aylward

Steve Aylward

Wood pasture

A substantial part of the woodland at Knettishall will be managed on a nonintervention basis. Other than essential tree safety work, these areas will be allowed to continue to develop naturally adding to the diversity of woodland habitats across the reserve.

While lacking the special interest of the open heath habitats, the woodland areas are still home to many species.

Woodcock are regular winter visitors while nuthatch and tree-creeper are amongst the more notable residents.

The woodland flora includes impressive displays of foxgloves in the summer.

People and recreation

Knettishall Heath will continue to be a peaceful and beautiful place to walk, picnic and enjoy nature. The heath will remain fully accessible to visitors and new paths will extend access into areas that could not previously be walked. Car parking will be improved at several locations and the network of trails maintained to a high standard.

8

Helping visitors understand the enormous cultural heritage of Knettishall is a key part of our role as custodians of the heath. Walks, talks, events and trail guides will be amongst the many different oportunities we plan to offer visitors to help people get the most out of their visit to the heath.

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Experiencing

DavidTipling

David Kjaer

A big landscape such as Knettishall Heath provides plenty of space for visitors and helps dilute the pressure on sensitive habitats. Dog walking is hugely popular at Knettishall and no new restrictions will be imposed. We aim to encourage dog walkers to use less sensitive areas during the bird nesting season through providing alternative dog exercise areas.

Enjoying

Samantha Gay

Understanding

Steve Aylward

Access

People have always come to Knettishall to enjoy themselves. It is a really important local place for people to relax and unwind and enjoy the countryside.The network of trails extends to 9 miles and a permissive bridleway also enables horse riders to cross the heath.

Our aim is to ensure that all visitors to Knettishall Heath value their visit whether it is a quiet walk with the dog, a spot of bird watching or family day out with children. Activity days, walks and self-guided trails for all ages are available for those wanting to learn more while a range of volunteering opportunities are on offer for people wanting to become directly involved in caring for the heath.

Visitor access A substantial part of Knettishall Heath is classified as ‘Access Land’ under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000.

With this ‘right to roam’ comes a responsibility to ensure that access does not harm the very things that people value in the landscape. Dog walkers are welcomed at Knettishall Heath but the CROW Act does require that dogs are kept on a lead on the open heath during the bird nesting season.

The creation of a new ‘dogs off leads’ route will ensure that dog walkers who prefer to walk their dogs off a lead can do so at any time of year.

A permissive bridleway for horse riders has been retained although it will be slightly re-aligned to enable horse riders and dog walkers to cross the heath outside the main grazing enclosure.

9

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

How are we going to get there?

Restoring Breck heath and creating new wood-pasture at Knettishall will mostly be a long and highly sensitive process. Some elements such as clear felling a block of conifer plantation will happen quickly but much of the habitat restoration work will be programmed over a period of many years. Changes in habitat structure will be gradual to minimise the impact on site users.

Felling

We propose to fell and restore to open heath a 6 acre block of commercial conifer plantation.The remaining two areas of conifer plantation will be gradually thinned leaving broad-leaved tree species to replace the conifers so that in time these areas will become mixed woodland.

10

Preparation work

Wood-pasture will be created from existing woodland areas by a process of gradual thinning.Young trees will be selectively removed to favour older more mature trees that are of greater wildlife value. Glades and rides will also be created to give the woodland more structure which is important for bats and other species.

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Restored Breck heath

Steve Aylward

Steve Aylward

Steve Aylward

Steve Aywlard

Pine plantation

To restore woodland areas to Breck heath it will be necessary to remove tree stumps together with the layer of organic material that has built up over the years.This will encourage the recovery of rare grassland species such as purple milk-vetch and large thyme together with heather.

Heathland requires management to maintain its wildlife interest. In addition to grazing, there will be a programme of periodic bracken and scrub control in order to maintain the right balance and maximise wildlife interest.

Habitat management A large part of the woodland at Knettishall will be retained and managed with a very ‘light touch’ to enhance particular features such as rides and glades and for essential tree safety work. Where it is necessary to clear trees and scrub to restore Breck heath or create woodpasture, the work will be undertaken on a small scale in ‘patches’ across the heath so that over time, through a gradual process of clearance, parts of the former heathland landscape will be revealed.

Most tree and scrub clearance can be undertaken without having to restrict public access and should therefore have a minimal impact on visitors.The only exception will be the clear-felling and thinning of the commercial pine plantations where it will be necessary to temporarily restrict access.

This will be a highly mechanised process using tree harvesting equipment which requires a wide safety zone.This however will enable the work to be undertaken very rapidly, therefore limiting the length of time that paths have to be closed.

All woodland management will take place during the winter months from October through to February to limit disturbance to wildlife and the public.

11 Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Management and grazing

Livestock grazing is the traditional method we will use to manage the heath and wood-pasture.

Ponies, and during the summer cattle, will be instrumental in maintaining the character of these habitats and their dependent wildlife. This is a far more sustainable way of maintaining the heath which reduces the need to use expensive and high impact machinery.

Exmoor ponies will continue to be the primary grazing animal of the heath.

These rare native breed ponies are ideally suited to heathland and woodpasture grazing and thrive in this type of environment.The number of ponies and the time of year they graze will vary depending on the condition of the heath.

12

Cattle

Prior to myxomatosis large numbers of rabbits would have been a common sight on the heath.Today, there are few rabbits at Knettishall but it is hoped that numbers will slowly increase as rabbits play a vital role in helping to maintain the character of Breckland and its wildlife.

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Cattle grids

Steve Aylward

Steve Aylward

Rabbits

Ian Goodall

Steve Aylward

Ponies

The riverside meadows have been grazed by cattle for many years and this will continue. We work with a local grazier who specialises in grazing rare breeds such as shorthorn cattle which like the Exmoor ponies are ideally suited to this sort of grazing.The cattle may also graze the heath for a few months in the summer alongside the ponies.

The use of cattle grids will transform the landscape and the way people can use the heath. Visually intrusive roadside fencing will be removed enhancing the landscape, and walkers will no longer be impeded by fences and gates. We hope that the combination of cattle grids and road signs will be traffic calming, reducing the speed of cars driving through the heath, for the safety and benefit of visitors and livestock.

Grazing infrastructure plan Fencing is essential to contain the livestock that will help maintain Knettishall Heath. We aim to minimise the impact of fencing on both the landscape and users of the heath by removing the internal fencing that currently divides the heath, replacing it with a single boundary fence and cattle grids on the roads. Roadside ditches and bunds will be maintained to prevent unauthorised vehicular access to the heath.

Creating an open ‘New Forest’ like landscape will benefit both visitors and wildlife. It will no longer be necessary to negotiate multiple gates when walking around the heath and instead visitors can freely roam.The boundaries between semi-natural habitats will become less obvious as heathland, wood-pasture and woodland blend into one-another.

For visitors who would prefer to avoid the livestock, there will still be a variety of walking options including the riverside walks, woodland trail and the dedicated ‘dogs off leads’ zone.

13

Knettishall Heath A Vision for the Future

Acknowledgements

Suffolk WildlifeTrust is working in partnership with Natural England, Forestry Commission, Suffolk County Council andThe Brecks Partnership.

Habitat restoration at Knettishall Heath will be supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and WREN

Partnership

Photo front cover: DavidTipling and Steve Aylward Maps produced by Suffolk WildlifeTrust andThe Forestry Commission