Hedgecourt

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Hedgecourt
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Hedgecourt Lake, Surrey - geograph.org.uk - 210661.jpg
Location Surrey
Grid reference TQ 355 403 [1]
InterestBiological
Area33.6 hectares (83 acres) [1]
Notification 1986 [1]
Location map Magic Map

Hedgecourt is a 33.6-hectare (83-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Felbridge in Surrey. [1] [2] An area of 5-hectare (12-acre) is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. [3]

Contents

Hedgecourt Lake is an ancient mill pond formed by damming the Eden Brook. Other habitats are fen, grassland and woodland. There are wetland breeding birds such as water rail, mute swan, sedge warbler, kingfisher and tufted duck. [4]

Description

Hedgecourt SSSI is a wetland site in southeast Surrey in the Eden Brook valley. It sits on a layer of alluvial deposits, which overlie the Tunbridge Wells Sands beneath. [4] The largest part of the site is Hedgecourt Lake, a former mill pond. Its primary inflow and outflow are the Eden Brook and it has a catchment area of 9.73 km2 (3.76 sq mi), of which around 60% is agricultural land and 23% is urban. The surface area is 17.2 ha (43 acres), the maximum depth is 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) and the mean hydraulic residence time is 83 days. [5]

The lake, in the Metropolitan Green Belt, is owned by a local yacht club, which uses it for sailing. [5] [6] A local angling club stocks the waters with fish and Surrey Wildlife Trust rents 5 ha (12 acres) at the west end as a nature reserve. [3] [5] [7] A 1995 survey noted that the lake was shallow and subject to silting. [5]

Drier areas of woodland are dominated by oak and birch, with hazel and alder. On the marshier ground close to the lake, alder, birch and grey sallow are common. Where the ground is waterlogged, species such as marsh horsetail, yellow loosestrife, reed canary-grass, gipsywort, meadowsweet and meadow thistle are found. Aquatic flora include Elodea nuttallii, broad-leaved pondweed and white water-lily. [4] Fish species include bream, roach, tench, pike, perch and eels. [7]

There are two smaller lakes in the SSSI, Wiremill Lake and Furnace Lake, both downstream of Hedgecourt Lake. [8]

History

The earliest surviving record of Hedgecourt is from 1302, when it appears as Hegecurt. In later documents from the 14th century, it is written as Le Heggecurt and Heggecourt. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries it is recorded as Hegecote. The name is of French origin and dates from after the Norman Conquest. [9]

Until the start of the 14th century, Hedgecourt was part of the Manor of Horne. In 1302, it was granted to John de Berewyk, but was briefly returned to the Crown in 1323-4, before being regranted to Roger de Husee, de Berewyk's heir. During the 15th century, the land came into the possession of John Gage, whose descendants held the manor until the death of William Gage in 1744. It then passed through a succession of private owners, who progressively broke up the estate. [10] [11]

The first watermill is thought to have been a hammer mill on the current Wiremill site at the eastern end of the SSSI. The date of construction is unknown, but there was an active iron industry in the area in the 14th century [12] and there was a forge operating at Hedgecourt in the 16th century. [13] A second mill, a corn mill, likely to have been positioned directly on the Eden Brook and to have been powered by an undershot water wheel, was built to the west of the first at the start of the 16th century. The main lake was created c. 1562 – c. 1567 by damming the brook, primarily to provide an additional store of water for the hammer mill. [14] At the same time, the second mill, which was known as Hedgecourt Mill, was converted to become an overshot mill. [8]

The local iron industry had shut down by 1787 and the hammer mill became a wire mill until 1816, when it was converted to a flour mill. [14] The second mill, which had always been a flour mill, closed by 1926. [15] The original mill house, parts of which date from the 17th century, was Grade II-listed in 1984. [16] Hedgecourt was designated an SSSI in 1975. [4] The main lake was purchased by Crawley Mariners Yacht Club in 1977; the cost was part-funded by a £10,000 grant from the National Sports Council. [6]

Frederick Forsyth owned Lake House in the mid-1980s; the property has a private jetty and slipway onto the lake. [17] [18] In 1986, Surrey Wildlife Trust began to lease the western part of the lake as a nature reserve. [19] A scrub cutter machine was presented to the trust by National Grid in 1996. [20] An algal bloom, in 1999, reduced oxygen levels in the water and there were reports of dead and distressed fish. [21]

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Hedgecourt at Wikimedia Commons

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Designated Sites View: Hedgecourt". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "Map of Hedgecourt". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Hedgecourt". Surrey Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Hedgecourt citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, Helen M (1995). An evaluation of alternative management strategies for shallow eutrophicated lakes and reservoirs (PDF) (Thesis). University of Plymouth. pp. 166–168, 217–220. doi:10.24382/3714 . Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Lake dam declared safe by engineer". East Grinstead Observer. 9 February 1977. p. 3.
  7. 1 2 "Hedgecourt Lake and Feeder Stream". East Grinstead Angling Society. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Hedgecourt Watermill and Cottages". Felbridge & District Local History. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Gover, J.E.B; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F.M. (1934). The place-names of Surrey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 322.
  10. ↑ "Manors of Hedgecourt and Covelingley". Surrey Mirror and County Post. No. 4547. 15 November 1963. p. 23.
  11. ↑ Malden, H.E., ed. (1912). A history of the county of Surrey. Vol. 4. London: Victoria County History. pp. 291–296. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Horne history". Surrey Mirror. 3 October 1996. p. 14.
  13. ↑ "Settlement created by iron will of workers". Surrey Mirror. 8 July 1999. p. 16.
  14. 1 2 "Hedgecourt SSSI". Felbridge & District History Group. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Paddon, J.B. (8 October 1926). "Hedgecourt Mill". Surrey Mirror and County Post. No. 2540. p. 12.
  16. ↑ Historic England. "The Mill House and Mill Cottage (Grade II) (1280919)". National Heritage List for England .
  17. ↑ "Charming life beside a lake". East Grinstead Observer. 9 December 1992. p. 22.
  18. ↑ "Thriller writer's house for sale". BBC News. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Conservationists go back to nature". East Grinstead Observer. 23 April 1987. p. 5.
  20. ↑ "A life-saving donation". Surrey Mirror. 7 March 1996. p. 13.
  21. ↑ Smith, Laura (8 September 1999). "Algae forces agency to close two lakes". East Grinstead Observer. p. 3.

51°08′46″N0°03′50″W / 51.146°N 0.064°W / 51.146; -0.064

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