Exploring layers of history in the Norfolk Claylands

January may not be abundant with wildflowers but there is plenty to discover on a winter's walk as Helen Baczkowska, Conservation Officer with Norfolk Wildlife Trust records in her Claylands Diary for January.
 
Although I am an enthusiast of wild flowers, January walks are strangely a joy; for once I am not distracted by the delights of stitchwort or speedwell, by trying to sort greater from lesser bird’s foot trefoil.  Instead, I can look out on landscapes, study bare trees and cold winter ponds with a different eye.

On a walk through the heart of the Claylands Living Landscape, my brother, an archaeologist, slowed us down by lightly kicking at molehills. One revealed the treasure he sought – a thin, curved blade of flint I would not have looked twice at.  The chipped edge he showed me was human made, one of the thousand upon thousand Mesolithic flint tools discarded across these lands.  Most, he explained, were found on dry sandy soils, the reasons uncertain, yet how, he asked, had they recognised these places?  For an ecologist, this one question begs many more about how the vegetation of Britain developed as the last glaciers retreated to the north and as herds of large herbivores, from prehistoric bison, to deer and ponies, spread out across the cold steppe grasslands and scrub.

Gorse by David North

   

One thing I could certainly say is that even today, the patches of sandy soils left on the edge of the ice sheets can be easily distinguished amongst the ground up chalky clay of South Norfolk; earlier walking over the County Wildlife Site at Wood Green, we had crossed an area of gorse and fine grasses, visible even in winter.  In summer, heath bedstraw and heath speedwell grow here, although most of the common is clay, with meadow vetchling, meadow buttercup, cowslip and black knapweed.

Nearby Fritton Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with orchids and ponds were great crested newts breed, but in the bleakness of January, my attention was drawn to the almost straight rows of oak trees, most noticeable on the western boundary.  Some of these are huge old trees, the largest in the south-west corner showing signs of pollarding – a way that small wood was once produced by cutting and re-cutting above the height of grazing stock. Collecting small wood from pollards was often the right of the commoners, whereas the timber trees themselves were the property of the lord of the manor. 

Old oak tree by Brian Beckett

In the centuries when barns and houses and especially warships were built on oak frames, these trees were valuable, their management and planting central to a farm’s income and survival; it is likely that the amount of oak across many English counties is not a virtue of ecology, so much a legacy of old economies and the insatiable need for timber for ships.  Today, being winter bare, these trees make curious shapes, with a large, gnarled trunks and many holes; invertebrates inhabit the crevices and barbestelle bats, which are have been recorded hunting over the common, no doubt find a roost in the cracks and fissured bark.

The lines of pollards continue south of Fritton Common, along a sinuous path, known locally as Snake Lane.  Hedges in the Claylands are often tall, with mature trees and a flora suggesting these are old fragments of woodland. The wide hedges of Snake Lane indicate long generations of woodland management, with pollards of oak and field maple; between them the pale slender trunks of hazel show signs of past coppicing.  Like pollarding, this produced small wood for hurdles and tool handles by cutting and re-cutting, but this time at ground level; the re-grown trees have many stems and a distinctive stump or “stool”.  A few hornbeam grow here too, their bark smooth and twisted into long creases, their timber once famed for its hardness.

Returning home, across Morningthorpe Common, a whisper makes me look up.  With a sound like the lightest of summer breezes in tall trees, a flock of fieldfares is heading to roost.  I have spotted a lot of these large, grey-backed thrushes over the past week, no doubt forced briefly south by cold weather. 

Fieldfare by Elizabeth Dack

 
By the end of our walk, dusk is wintry, grey and damp; warmth and hot tea beckon, but so do more days of walking the quiet, hidden tracks of the Claylands, exploring the endless, inseparable layering of human and natural history.

Species of the month: Norfolk’s remarkable trees

Ed Parnell, Norfolk Wildlife Trust

November is a great time to get out into the Norfolk countryside and witness spectacular displays of changing autumn leaf colours. It’s also a good time to catch up with some of the veteran trees dotted around the county, many of which have interesting associations with local legends and folklore.

NWT Hethel Old Thorn, photo by Richard Osbourne

Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s smallest nature reserve happens to consist of just one, very old ‘tree’, though perhaps bush would a better description! Hethel Old Thorn is located beside the picturesque Hethel Church, near Wymondham. The tiny reserve measures only 0.025 hectares in size, making it one of the smallest reserves in the UK.

The eponymous thorn itself is thought to be one of the most ancient in England, possibly dating from the thirteenth century. In 1755 its girth was recorded as 9 feet 1 inch, but it has now decayed to a remnant of its former self. Even so, there is still something very appealing about this venerable shrub, which continues to grow each year and remains healthy. Superstition has it that the hawthorn grew from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea – a folk tale associated with other thorns around the country including at Glastonbury – as well as being a place where rebel peasants allegedly gathered in the time of King John.

Nearby, between Wymondham and Hethersett stands another historic tree: Kett’s Oak. Propped up by sturdy wooden beams, and perched precariously on the side of the busy road, this twisted oak is the supposed spot where, in 1549, the rebel Robert Kett and his army of revolting peasants stopped on their march to Norwich against aristocratic injustice. However, there are some suggestions that the tree may have not been the stopping-off point but actually the site where a number of the rebels were hanged. Confusingly, another Kett's Oak stands near Ryston Hall, not far from Downham Market, apparently marking another meeting point of that rebellion.
 

Oak at NWT Thursford Wood, photo by David North

For a creepily atmospheric woodland location, visit NWT Wayland Wood near Watton, alleged site of the Babes in the Wood legend with its villainous, murdering uncle. Walking around the densely packed trees on a winter’s afternoon it’s easy to believe there’s some truth in the dark tale, though the reality is that the wood’s thickness is down to the traditional coppicing woodland management techniques used to benefit wildlife.
 

Less shrouded in myth and fable, but even more impressive are the numerous other veteran trees found around the county. Norfolk Wildlife Trust conducted a survey of these leviathans in 2007, asking people to submit local records. Over 200 notable trees were recorded, with the largest example being an oak found at East Wretham with a massive nine-metre circumference; other large trees included sweet chestnuts and limes. An excellent site to see many such gnarled, ancient oaks together in one location is NWT Thursford Wood, just outside Fakenham.

For information about Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s woodland nature reserves, as well as events being run throughout the winter see www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk