Brockdish Common is a registered common (CL125), made up of two parcels of land. The southern most part, off Common Lane is a County Wildlife Site (CWS 68) in south Norfolk. The common is a mosaic of tall herb vegetation, trees, scrub and mown grassy paths on neutral soils and which becomes damper toward the river. A tributary stream of the River Waveney lies to the south, while the River Waveney is to the east.
Please note this site is not a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve.
Habitat description from the Wildlife in Common Survey
A small area of registered common (part of CL125, which lies further north of the village) supporting coarse, species poor, neutral grassland.
Tall stands of bramble (
Rubus fruticosus agg.) scrub dominates with frequent, dense nettle (
Urtica dioica) and hedge bindweed (
Calystegia sepium), all occuring across the common. Stands of grey willow (
Salix cinerea) are frequent.
Carefully mown grassy paths keep access open throughout, linking the common to the wider footpath network.
The north boundary is an old, at times gappy and overgrown, hawthorn (
Crataegus monogyna) hedge with occasional ash (
Fraxinus excelsior) and rare oak (
Quercus robur). The southern boundary is a seasonally wet, deep sided ditch, running down to the River Waveney. The ditch supports very little vegetation (as it is often covered by hawthorn and willow scrub), except for occasional pendulous sedge (
Carex pendula). The river edge also supports pendulous sedge, along with a patch of Himalayan balsam (
Impatiens glandulifera), and a small amount of watermint (
Mentha aquatica), fool’s watercress (
Apium nodiflorum) and water forget-me-not (
Myosotis scorpioides).