Church Field is 1.83 ha (4.52 acres) owned by Wenhaston Town Estate Church Charity and is a former arable field and that has been in cultivation for many years. The owners of Church Farm no longer wish to lease the land from the Church Charity and so Blyth Woods is taking on a 25-year lease to create a community asset and a site for wildlife. 1927 OS maps list the site as allotments and the 1945 aerial photos show it in arable production with the same boundary as we are leasing. Hedges were removed in the past 60 years and the field enlarged to join with the adjacent farmland owned by Church Farm. As can be seen from the map above the site is linked to Grove Woods by good hedgerows with only a small gap at Bramfield Road
Plans for the site
We are still planning exactly what will happen. Following consultations with Blyth Woods Friends and children from Wenhaston School we have lots of ideas, but the general outline is as follows.
The soils are free draining, slightly acid, soils with some clay content at varying levels, an overgrown ditch runs along the southern boundary and soil compaction through continued farm use has resulted in issues of run off in times of heavy rain. The field slopes towards the ditch and so it is proposed to dig one or two small attenuation ponds to retain water and create a wildlife resource. Their ability to retain permanent water will be subject to soil conditions and test holes will be dug first.
The hedge line that was removed in the 1960’s will be replanted along with the rest of the boundary that has no tree cover.
Five small blocks of new woodland will be planted using native deciduous trees and shrubs with grassland rides separating each area providing a footpath through the site.
The remaining area will be restored to grassland using natural regeneration, green hay and spreading of wildflower seed. Around this area it is proposed to plant a scattered orchard of local provenance fruit trees for use by the community. In addition, an area will be used as a tree nursery to supply trees for the site and surroundings in the village managed by the group and the local school children as the school nursery is difficult to manage in out of school times (hot dry summers when the school is closed).
An access field gate will be installed for management and a pedestrian gate leading from the public footpath will act as the entrance for members of the public.
Blyth Woods 