Folly Farm, Somerset

Last updated

Folly Farm
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Old chestnut at Folly Farm - geograph.org.uk - 6811.jpg
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Somerset
Area of Search Avon
Grid reference ST607604
Coordinates 51°20′29″N2°33′56″W / 51.34132°N 2.56559°W / 51.34132; -2.56559 Coordinates: 51°20′29″N2°33′56″W / 51.34132°N 2.56559°W / 51.34132; -2.56559
InterestBiological
Area19.36 hectares (0.1936 km2; 0.0747 sq mi)
Notification 1987
Natural England website

Folly Farm is a traditionally managed working farm and nature reserve run by the Avon Wildlife Trust. It is located between Stowey, Clutton and Stanton Wick in the civil parish of Stowey in the English county of Somerset.

Contents

The farm house is 18th century and the surrounding land includes neutral grassland, wildflower meadows and woodlands with splendid views. Much of Folly Farm is designated as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Some of the land has never been ploughed. [1] The SSSI comprises two adjacent areas, the meadows (19.36 hectares) and Dowlings Wood (9 hectares). It is also a Local Nature Reserve. [2] [3]

It can be found near Bishop Sutton in the Chew Valley, just off the A368. The site is situated on a curved ridge of land on neutral soils derived from the underlying Keuper Marl. The soil is of the Icknield Association with dark brown, moist but moderately well-drained clay.

The 250 acres (100 ha) nature reserve includes the Folly Oak which is over 400 years old. [4] [5]

Wildlife

It attracts a wide range of birds including marsh tit (Parus palustris), buzzard (Buteo buteo) and great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). The pasture is of a kind now rare in the area. In summer the site has a wide variety of flowers such as betony (Stachys), oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) and heath spotted orchid (Orchidaceae). In late summer, it is covered with drifts of black knapweed (Centaurea) and devil's bit scabious (scabiosa). Many butterflies can be seen throughout the summer, including marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurina), ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus), gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) and marbled white (Melanargia galathea). [6]

A number of scarce species of fly are listed from the site in Gibbs (2002). The cranefly Atypophthalmus inustus was recorded in Folly Wood in 2001 and the cranefly Ormosia bicornis was found in both Folly Wood and Dowlings Wood in 2000–2001. Prior to these records there had been no previous published records from the county of Somerset. The fungus gnats Keroplatus testaceus , Macrocera pusilla , Megophthalmidia crassicornis , Exechiopsis dumitrescae and Exechiopsis membranacea have all been recorded, the first four in 2000 in Dowlings Wood, and the last at Folly Wood in 2001. Other species recorded at Dowlings Wood in 2000 were Platypalpus mikii , a member of the family Hybotidae, and the hoverfly Volucella inflata , while the soldierfly Oxycera pardalina was recorded from Folly Wood in 2001. Finally, the picture-winged fly Herina palustris and the hoverflies Criorhina ranunculi and Orthonevra brevicornis were recorded at Folly Farm in 1999. [6]

Folly Farm Centre

The site was purchased from the Strachey family who were lords of the manor of the nearby Sutton Court in 1987. [7]

Avon Wildlife Trust opened Folly Farm Centre as an education venue in May 2008.

The insulation in the centre's roofs is provided by sheep's wool. It also has a solar panel, a biomass boiler fired by wood pellets and a willow sewage treatment area. [8]

Related Research Articles

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is one of 46 local Wildlife Trusts around the UK working to promote and protect local wildlife. It covers the whole of Derbyshire and was founded in 1962 in response to environmental threats to the local countryside, since when it has continued to grow. The Trust is now based at East Mill on the River Derwent in the town of Belper, Derbyshire. It is a Registered Charity, supported by more than 14,000 members and over 500 volunteers.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Organization

The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is managed by a Board of Trustees elected from its membership who provide overall direction for the development of the Trust and there are Advisory Committees. The work of the trust is carried out through staff and volunteers.

The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon — now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England. It has its headquarters in Bristol and runs wildlife centres at Folly Farm, Somerset and Feed Bristol, Frenchay, North Bristol.

Bishop Sutton Human settlement in England

Bishop Sutton is a village on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, within the affluent Chew Valley in Somerset. It lies east of Chew Valley Lake and north east of the Mendip Hills, approximately ten miles south of Bristol on the A368, Weston-super-Mare to Bath road between West Harptree and Chelwood. Bishop Sutton and the neighbouring village of Stowey form the civil parish of Stowey Sutton.

Stowey-Sutton

Stowey-Sutton is a civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset District of Somerset, England within the Chew Valley. The parish contains the villages of Stowey and Bishop Sutton having a population of 1,361.

Stowey Human settlement in England

Stowey is a small village within the Chew Valley in Somerset, England. It lies south of Chew Valley Lake and north of the Mendip Hills, approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Bristol on the A368 road Weston-super-Mare to Bath. Stowey and its neighbouring and larger village, Bishop Sutton, form the civil parish of Stowey Sutton.

Browns Folly

Wade Browne's Folly is a folly tower sitting within a 39.9 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near the village of Bathford in Somerset, notified in 1974: the site itself is known as the Farleigh Down Stone Quarry, and is managed as a nature reserve by the Avon Wildlife Trust (AWT). The tower was built in 1848 and is a Grade II listed building.

Lower Woods

Lower Woods is a 280.1-hectare (692-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a 284.1-hectare (702-acre) site. The site is a nature reserve managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Cheddar Complex Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England

The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1952.

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors SSSI is a 1083 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England notified in 1967. It is close to the villages of Edington and Catcott.

Midger

Midger is a 65.7-hectare (162-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest straddling the border of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1984. Since the last revision in 1974, the size has been reduced to a 56-hectare (140-acre) site. It lies east of Hillesley, Gloucestershire and north of Hawkesbury Upton, South Gloucestershire. It is at the head of the Kilcott Valley.

Ingrebourne Marshes

Ingrebourne Marshes are a 74.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve includes a small part of the SSSI west of the River Ingrebourne. The site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly 810 hectares north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon. It has over 21,000 members, and is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK. It is a Registered Charity, with its Registered Office in St Albans, and had an income in the year to 31 March 2014 of over £1.5 million.

Gwent Wildlife Trust (GWT) is a wildlife trust covering the area between the lower Wye and Rhymney rivers which forms the vice county of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is a registered charity and a member of the Wildlife Trusts Partnership.

Red Moor (nature reserve)

Red Moor is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics, near Lanlivery in mid Cornwall, England, UK.

Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve

The Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve (NNR) comprises six separate woodland sites in the Clyde Valley region of South Lanarkshire, Scotland. These six sites are located along a 12 km section of the River Clyde and its tributaries, and lie close to built-up areas such as Hamilton and Lanark on the southern outskirts of Greater Glasgow. The sites can be easily accessed by about two million people living in the surrounding urban areas, making the reserve unique amongst Scotland's NNRs, most of which tend to be located in more remote areas. The six sites are:

Box Farm Meadows SSSI Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Box Farm Meadows is a 8.3-hectare (21-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985. This was formerly known as Balls Green Pastures. The reserve is situated at the southern edge of Box village and one mile east of Nailsworth.

Dymock Woods SSSI Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Dymock Woods is a 53-hectare (130-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1990. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

References

  1. ↑ Lawrence, Dawn (12 March 2018). "Country diary: the first farmers did not go in for squared-off plots". Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Folly Farm". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  3. ↑ "Map of Folly Farm". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  4. ↑ Emanuel, Louis (1 March 2013). "Wildlife Trust's guide to historic trees in Bristol". The Post. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Great places to see ancient and unusual trees" (PDF). Wildlife Trusts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 Natural England SSSI citation sheet Archived 19 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Ewart, Alan W.; Douglas C. Baker; Glyn C. Bissix (2004). "3". Integrated Resource and Environmental Management. CABI Publishing. p. 42. ISBN   978-0-85199-834-3.
  8. ↑ Wainwright, Martin (31 October 2008). "Guardians of the past uncover green lessons for the present". The Guardian. Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 31 October 2008.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.