Brewers Green is a County Wildlife Site (CWS 27) and registered common not far from Diss in South Norfolk. The relatively large village common is made up mainly of improved neutral grassland on a loamy soil, divided into three sections by minor roads and an area managed as playing field, which is excluded from the CWS. There are two well vegetated ponds and areas of scrub. Species recorded on the site include song thrush, meadow buttercup, peacock butterfly and yellow flag iris.
Please note this site is not a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve.
Habitat description from the Wildlife in Common Survey
This site is part of a registered common, managed by South Norfolk District Council. It consists of semi-improved neutral grassland on a loamy soil, divided into three sections by minor roads and an area managed as playing field, which is excluded from the CWS. There are two well vegetated ponds and areas of scrub. The vegetation is broadly similar on all three sections of the site. The site is now managed by mowing.
The southern section is dominated by Yorkshire fog
Holcus lanatus, false oat-grass
Arrhenatherum elatius, common bent
Agrostis capillaris, red fescue
Festuca rubra and smaller cat's-tail
Phleum bertolinii are all frequent and cock's-foot
Dactylis glomerata is often an important component. Prominent herbs include black knapweed
Centaurea nigra, red clover
Trifolium pratense and creeping buttercup
Ranunculus repens. Fleabane
Pulicaria dysenterica is present but scattered and self-heal
Prunella vulgaris, creeping cinquefoil
Potentilla reptans and oxeye daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare are all frequent. Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatorium is occasional across the common, as is lady’s bedstraw
Galium verum. Other species present here and across the common include wild carrot
Daucus carota, hop trefoil
Trifolium campestre, meadow vetchling
Lathyrus pratensis, tufted vetch
Vicia cracca and lesser bird’s foot trefoil
Lotus corniculatus.
The grassland to the north of Swamp Lane supports frequent chalk knapweed
Centaurea debeauxii, with lesser stitchwort
Stellaria graminea, lady’s bedstraw and star of Bethlehem
Ornithogalum umbellatum. Hogweed
Heracleum sphondyleum is occasional here, while ragwort
Senecio jacobaea is rare. Meadow buttercup
Ranunculus acris is occasional. One small patch of dyer’s greenweed Genista tinctoria ssp. tinctoria was recorded in 2018 and 2019. Meadow foxtail
Alopecurus pratensis is frequent, and cuckooflower
Cardamine pratensis is occasional.
The south-west boundary is marked by a tall, mature hedge, which is composed of sycamore
Acer pseudoplatanus bramble
Rubus fruticosus agg. and willow
Salix spp., with abundant nettle
Urtica diocia.
The grassland on the northern sections is similar in character to that to the south and includes upright hedge parsley
Torilis japonica.
The pond to the south appears to dry out in summer and is heavily shaded by scrub, largely hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna; with little aquatic vegetation after clearance work. Silverweed
Potentilla anserina, hairy willowherb
Epilobium hirsutum and narrow-leaved Michaelmas daisy
Aster lanceolatus also occur.
The northernmost pond has willow and ash scrub to the east and is open to the west. It supports water plantain
Alisma plantago-aquatica, , horned pondweed
Zannichellia palustris and common spike rush
Eleocharis palustris, but little other aquatic vegetation. The pond margins support water mint
Mentha aquatica, false fox sedge
Carex otrubae, branched bur-reed
Sparganium erectum, hairy sedge
Carex hirta, gypsywort
Lycopus europaeus, jointed rush
Juncus articulatus, hard rush
Juncus inflexus, fleabane, glaucous sedge
Carex flacca, with a few birch
Betula pendula and willow saplings on the west side.
Patches of scrub also occur on the northern tip of the side and along the eastern boundary; to the north this is developing towards secondary woodland and is dominated by oak
Quercus robur, bramble, ash
Fraxinus excelsior and hazel
Corylus avellana, with an avenue of planted Lombardy poplars
Populus nigra ‘Italica’. The ground flora is dominated in places by low bramble, with occasional greater stitchwort
Stellaria holostea, false brome
Brachypodium sylvaticum, hedge woundwort
Stachys sylvatica, herb Robert
Geranium robertianum, wood avens
Geum urbanum, wood dock
Rumex sanguineus and cow parsley
Anthriscus sylvestris. Dog’s mercury
Mercurialis perennis occur occasionally, mainly by the west boundary. To the east, across the road, the scrub is dominated by hawthorn, with occasional crab apple
Malus sylvestris, with snowdrop
Galanthus nivalis, lesser celandine
Ficaria verna and daffodil
Narcissus spp.