The Dereham Stream, sometimes called the Wendling Beck, meanders through a broad valley, linking wildlife friendly habitats of the open countryside with the very centre of Dereham town. One of these wildlife havens is Rush Meadows, where a two year restoration project is nearing completion. John Milton, Head of Nature Reserves at Norfolk Wildlife Trust explains what has been achieved.

Visitors walking the footpath that follows the Dereham Stream may be treated to a riverside teaming with life: water voles slipping into the water; the sight of a yellow wagtail hunting for flies; or dragonflies patrolling for insects.

The river at Rush Meadows

At Rush Meadows the river itself was straightened with its original course being altered. This means that it flows through a slightly higher part of the site, so there is no natural drainage to the river. A central ditch carried water further downstream. Originally intended to drain the site, after many years this had become clogged with vegetation and large areas of Rush Meadows was subject to frequent flooding, with Reedmace displacing many of the lower growing plants, not unlike in the film “The Day of the Triffids” (yes, I’m old enough to remember this).  

The site had enormous challenges. The previous landowners, East Dereham Relief in Need Charity approached Norfolk Wildlife Trust in 2013 and we purchased 11 hectares of this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). We then secured a management agreement with Anglian Water to manage a further 5 hectares, as the two areas of land holdings were seamlessly linked. They formed an area of huge potential wildlife interest on the doorsteps of Dereham.

NWT secured significant funding for restoration in 2015 from WREN’s Biodiversity Action Fund, Natural England and Anglian Water, and together with management of our nearby Scarning Fen nature reserve,  NWT’s “Dereham Stream Fens project was born.

We began by clearing alder and sallow scrub, allowing sunlight to once again fall on the wet ground. The tall herb plant communities began to flourish. The second phase was to clear the dykes and restore that central ditch, with sluices installed to control the water flowing off Rush Meadows (our intention is not to drain the site but have control over the water levels). Dykes with open water and reed fringes are also excellent wildlife habitats, favoured by species of dragonfly, damselfly and water voles.

And the whole site is now fenced to enable grazing. NWTs cattle herd of British Whites will graze the site for the first time this year. British Whites are a native local breed, well suited to such difficult sites. Grazing will take place from July onwards, enabling the drier areas to flower and set seed properly

Snipe, photo by Dave Kilbey

for the first time in many years, plants like early marsh orchid.  It is hoped that with grazing, “drumming” snipe will return to breed here, a weird sound that was probably widespread in Norfolk once but is now rarely heard.

The final stage of our restoration project will be to install interpretation boards for visitors to the site, identifying habitats and wildlife.

Rush Meadows is part of NWT’s long term vision to bring flourishing wildlife close to the heart of Dereham. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to stand on your doorstep - in at least a part of Dereham - and listen to drumming snipe on a summer’s evening?

John Milton, Head of Nature Reserves
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