Rotherlands Nature Conservation Management Plan

The following is taken from the Nature Conservation Management Plan dated 25 November 1997, prepared for Petersfield Town Council by Ron Allen of The Environmental Project Consulting Group.

Summary

The land along the River Rother and Tilmore Brook in the ownership of Petersfield Town Council is of considerable local ecological interest. It is part of the more extensive green corridor along the River Rother Valley which is of regional importance and designated a Site Of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).

The land supports a wide range of riverside habitats including:

Running waters and adjacent banks
Drier meadow
Wetter meadow
Woody scrub and brambles
Wet woodland and alder/willow carr
Drier woodland
Ancient boundary vegetation

The management plan proposes a five year rolling programme of work to restore the habitats to a state in which they will better support a wide range of plants and wild creatures. In particular it is proposed to:

Manage the meadows, by chain harrowing to remove excessive growth and Spring and Autumn mowing to restore grassland
Manage the woodlands to the north of the playing fields, by partial coppicing of alders and removal of invasive willows
Manage bramble tangles, by rotational cutting to rejuvenate growth and reduce fire risk
Restore open water in the pond, by removing invasive willows to reduce shade and leaf fall.

More detailed fauna and flora surveys should be undertaken to guide the management. Otters and Crayfish are known to use the Rother in this part of Hampshire and further provision for these creatures could be made.

Public Footpath No 48 passes through the length of the site.

Location Map

Map supplied by Cliff Oakley

Introduction

General Character and Ecological interest

The land along the River Rother and its tributary, the Tilmore Brook (one time part of Penns Farm) Petersfield, would at one time have been a series of grazed meadows, fen, ponds and wet woodlands. Today the land (known as the Rother Lands) comprises a semi-wilderness area of unmanaged rank grassland, scrub, woodland, wetland and river bank that is rapidly declining in ecological interest and used primarily for dog walking and general exercise. The adjacent farmland is now either levelled and used intensively as playing fields, or remains unused.

Despite the increased urban setting and lack of management, the habitats will be supporting a wide range of native plants and wild creatures and these meadows will be providing a significant contribution to the biodiversity of this part of Petersfield. In addition, the land forms part of the wider and well wooded Rother Valley wildlife corridor and is a continuous part of it. Ancient vegetation occurs along the edge of the playing fields.

Need for Management

The biological communities of any wildlife habitat are constantly changing and require management to maintain their conservation value. Continuity of management is important if specific communities are to develop and be maintained. Traditionally managed farmland provides such a continuity, but this land has been neglected and so far has inevitably declined in the richness of its plant and animal communities.

In particular:

grasslands have become rank
scrub is invading
ponds and wetland are overgrown
woodland is out of its coppice cycle

Priorities for Management

Restoration and maintenance of the ecological interest of the Rother Lands requires a programme of management that reflects (in some degree at least) the management regime that produced them originally. To be effective, the management priorities need to be identified and a methodology and time scale established for undertaking a series of management operations.

Priority management is needed for habitats between the River Rother and the playing fields as follows:

restoration of grasslands
controlling bramble and scrub
opening up ponds and wetland
managing wetter woodlands

Either side of Tilmore brook minimal management is required, other than:

maintaining the public footpath where it is close to the banks of the Brook
removing invasive sycamore from the woodland

Habitat Map

Map supplied by Cliff Oakley

Physical Information

Hydrology

There are three main components to the surface hydrology:

The River Rother which forms the northern boundary of the site
The Tilmore Brook, a tributary of the Rother
Springs which supply water into the wet woodlands from off the adjacent terrace gravel aquifer.

Geology

The 1:10 000 scale geological map (NERC 1992) SU72 SE indicates that the wet woodlands and meadows are underlain by river alluvium with small areas of head abutting the edge of the flood plain, beyond which are second terrace deposits (gravels), all underlain by Cretaceous Rogate Beds (poorly graded clayey sand with much polished ironstone).

Banks of the Rother show the presence of buried peat in places.

Soils

The soils have not been examined in detail and the 1:250 000 soil map of South East England does not distinguish the flood plain.

However, general observation of the site suggests that the flood plain deposits are clay loams and clays subject to high groundwater and that the head deposits have more freely drained soils. Flushed areas below springs have wet peaty soils.

Wildlife Habitats

Woodlands

Eastern Woodland

This is a small area of woodland extending from the eastern boundary westwards for about 80m.

The edge of the woodland adjoining the playing field is marked by a row of shrubs, mainly hazel, hawthorn, elm, oak and apple with some areas of brambles, nettles and thistles.

Below this edge, the land falls as a steep bank at the edge of the gravel terrace, down into an area of wet alder woodland with some holly and elder. The alders are fairly widely spaced and have been coppiced but are now outgrown and provide a high woodland canopy. The soils are soft, wet and peaty and there are a number of old silted drains leading from the bank towards a low-way that fills to become a shallow spreading pool in winter. The ground flora does not appear rich but includes broad buckler-fern, ground ivy and red campion.

The canopy of the woodland extends northwards towards the stream at the edge of which are narrow swathes of Himalayan balsam, an introduced and often rampant species. Between the canopy edge and the river is first a belt of nettles with some hogweed and wild angelica and which gives way to coarse ruderal vegetation with nettles, brambles, hogweed, coarse grasses and reed canary-grass. This extends to the river bank where here has several alder trees.

Central Woodland

This is the largest area of woodland, includes a silted former pond, and extends 160m from the edge of the Eastern Woodland.

The woodland edge to the playing fields carries a fine range of trees and shrubs making a splendid backdrop to the fields. There are several large oak trees, a couple of large ash trees and a short row of field maples together with intervening areas of hazel, grey willow, hawthorn, elder and apple trees (probably crap apple). The vegetation along the top of the banks here is probably the oldest on site.

Below the trees, the land falls sharply away to an area of grey and crack willows (some large). The land carries seepages and becomes increasingly wet until an area of dense grey willow carr (wet flooded woodland) is reached - the remains of a once open pond. The eastern part of the carr contains several small silted drains arising off the boundary bank and feeding into the low-way. One of these drains also leads away from the pond area, but there is no clear outlet to the river.

Outside of the main woodland is an area of younger willow and alder extending the canopy towards the river and which includes a small bed of sedges and of reed canary-grass together with patches of Himalayan balsam.

In the west is an area of tall outgrown coppiced alder woodland rather similar to that in the Eastern Woodland. This woodland remains peaty and contains several silted but wet drains and pools. A further area of dense grey willow scrub occurs towards the outside.

Woodland along the Tilmore Brook

The Tilmore Brook corridor carries several areas of woodland

To the east of the Tilmore Brook is an area mainly of grey willow scrub below taller alder, crack willow and some ash. The land rises towards the playing fields to an edge strip of large oaks with ash, field maple, hazel, holly and hawthorn which as elsewhere is an ancient feature of the site. In the south, the woodland is a narrow strip of open woodland with ash and sycamore and again rising to the field edge with a strip of tall alder, ash, and crack and grey willows.

On the west side of the Tilmore Brook is a narrow strip of varied drier woodland 260m long rising to an area of scrub.

Southern and northern parts are of tall outgrown coppice alder with some holly and hazel over bramble. The central area contains clumps of larger crack willows and there are some thick areas of grey willow scrub on the western boundary.

The woodland rises to the west away from the river where there is drier birch and ash woodland passing to an irregular area of bramble with nettles and bracken.

Grasslands

Small Eastern Field

A small area between the Eastern Woodland and the river Rother. On gentle slopes towards the wood is seasonally wet grassland mainly over-run with nettles and which passes towards the river to slightly drier rough grassland with coarse weeds including nettles and hogweed and with clumps of bramble.

Central Field

A large area of coarse unmanaged grassland, wet in places and containing patches rich in rushes, horsetails, coarse grass, nettles, hogweed and reed canary-grass.

The site has not been grazed for some time and there is now encroaching oak and willow scrub with some hazel on drier and slightly higher areas away from the alder woodland. Woodland W2 is extending into this area with young willow and alder.

In the west, against the Tilmore Brook, is an area of thick nettle and bramble.

Western Field

An extensive area of coarse grassland, rather drier than the eastern field and raised on a broad shallow dome. There is much coarse vegetation including nettles and hogweed together with areas of mature oak scrub. Damper land towards the Tilmore Brook has broad swathes of nettle, bramble and invasive grey willow.

To the west edge, and in the north along the Rother, are extensive areas of bramble with developing hazel, grey willow, oak and ash scrub.

Scrub

There are a number of large stands of bramble which in places, especially to the west of the western meadow, are developing woody scrub of oak, birch, ash and hazel.

Elsewhere, the grassland has small areas of oak scrub, especially along paths and there are some small areas of hazel and alder. Young alder and willow scrub occurs alongside both the Rother and the Tilmore Brook.

Open Water

The main open waters are the watercourses and areas of seepage and low-ways

Still waters:

Former pond in central woodland. Now extensively filled with willow scrub and reverting to willow carr which was probably its original state
Seasonally wet pools within eastern woodland. Spring fed shaded pools with alder carr
Seasonally wet small pools and swamps within the central meadow.

Running waters:

Tilmore Brook. Swift flowing stream in winter, almost dry in late summer, generally lacking in aquatic plants.
River Rother. Main river, subject to management by the Environment Agency and with substantial banks liable to local slumping.

Fauna

While no detailed studies of the site have been undertaken, it does support a wide range of common birds, insects and other creatures. Of particular note are:

The presence or badger footprints from time to time,
The presence of otters along the Rother,
The presence of the native crayfish along the Rother.

Cultural Information

Previous land use: Formerly part of Penns Place.

Current land use: Publicly accessible and used for dog walking, jogging and general exercise.

Potential land use: Considerable potential for education in wildlife conservation

Ecological Relationships and Implications for Management

The main current trends are:

invasion of former grazed grassland with coarse herbs and woody scrub
extension of woodland into grassland areas by willow and alder invasion
silting and infilling of pond with willow leading to reversion to willow carr

Other considerations:

Use of land as footpath and for dog walking usually along well defined desire line tracks