Drayton Drewary is a registered common and County Wildlife Site (CWS 2268) dominated by broad-leaved woodland becoming coniferous in the south. Wet alder woodland occurs in the north, with an open area of marshy grassland. An area of dry acid grassland occurs towards the west. A newly created path links the central path to the east of the common with species including ling and cross-leaved heath.
Please note this site is not a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve.
Habitat description from the Wildlife in Common Survey
This area of registered common land (CLU 328) is exceptional diverse, with extensive broadleaved woodland, both wet and dry, some coniferous and mixed wood and a central open area of acid grassland, with some marshy grassland, fen meadow and relict heath. The soils are mainly acidic, with some peaty deposits on the eastern side.
A fast flowing, narrow stream forms the boundary with CWS 1352 to the north, lying within extensive alder
Alnus glutinosa carr. Beneath the alders, remote sedge
Carex remota dominates with occasional rough meadow-grass
Poa trivialis, water mint
Mentha aquatica, bittersweet
Solanum dulcamara, rare yellow pimpernel
Lysimachia nemorum and patches of wood sorrel
Oxalis acetosella. To the east and south, the woodland is drier and lighter soils, with silver birch
Betula pendula, locally frequent bracken
Pteridium aquilinum and occasional thyme-leaved speedwell
Veronica serpyllifolia. Silver birch woodland on the south-eastern edge of the large grassland has ground flora including pill sedge
Carex pilulifera, green-ribbed sedge
Carex binervis, climbing corydalis
Ceratocapnos claviculata, wood sage
Teucrium scorodonia, heather
Calluna vulgaris, heath rush
Juncus squarrosus, creeping soft-grass
Holcus mollis, tormentil
Potentilla erecta, common bent-grass
Agrostis capillaris and the moss Juniper hair-cap
Polytrichum juniperinum. Hard fern
Blechnum spicant grows in several places in an old wheel rut. The block of woodland to the south has Scots pine dominating, with a ground flora of abundant mosses, scattered bracken, occasional broad buckler fern
Dryopteris dilatata and rare heath bedstraw
Galium saxatile.
The southern and western boundaries are delineated with a bank which has veteran oak
Quercus robur, including one magnificent old pollard, and some beech
Fagus sylvatica. The western boundary bank has birch and rowan
Sorbus aucuparia growing along the edge, with a footpath beyond which has some muddy areas with water-pepper
Persicaria hydro-piper. in the south east corner is an unusual area of silver birch woodland over sphagnum moss.
Bracken is frequent where the grassland and woodland grade into each other; gorse
Ulex europaeus occurs here in the south-east. A line of oak and silver birch sub-divides the big block of open, acid grassland on light, sandy soils, which has short, rabbit-grazed turf. Species found include sheep’s sorrel
Rumex acetosella, thyme-leaved speedwell, common bent-grass and ragwort
Senecio jacobaea and common centaury
Centaurea erythraea. Aspen
Populus tremula edges the wood in the north. The southern edge of the plot is damper and shadier, with abundant germander speedwell
Veronica chamaedrys and some common bird’s-foot trefoil
Lotus pedunculatus among the lusher vegetation. Bracken dominates at the southern end, with plants such as sweet vernal-grass
Anthoxanthum odoratum, common centaury, self-heal
Prunella vulgaris, lesser stitchwort
Stellaria graminea and Yorkshire fog
Holcus lanatus growing in open land amongst the bracken. Crested dog’s-tail
Cynosurus cristatus and locally abundant smooth tare
Vicia tetrasperma also occur. False oat-grass
Arrhenatherum elatius and common nettle
Urtica dioica dominate in shadier places on the edge.
Small to medium areas of fen meadow occur along the eastern side of the woodland, amongst damp-wet alder and grey willow
Salix cineria woodland. The vegetation is tall and species-rich, varying slightly between the different areas. An area in the east has sharp-flowered rush
Juncus acutiflorus, blunt-flowered rush
Juncus subnodulosus, southern marsh orchid
Dactylorhiza praetermissa, hybrid orchids, marsh pennywort
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, lady fern
Athyrium filix-femina, narrow buckler fern
Dryopteris carthusiana, water horsetail
Equisetum fluviatile, marsh valerian
Valeriana dioica, meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria, brown sedge
Carex disticha, ragged robin
Silene flos-cuculi, lesser spearwort
Ranunculus flammula, lesser stitchwort
Stellaria graminea, fen bedstraw
Galium uliginosus, marsh thistle
Cirsium palustre and marsh horsetail
Equisetum palustre. Another area in the north-west is less rich but has similar rushes, with water mint, water dock
Rumex hydrolapathum, marsh thistle and Yorkshire fog, with sanicle
Sanicula europaea on the edge.
A runnel of damp species-rich grassland occurs on the eastern side of the large open block. Species present include silverweed
Potentilla anserina, oval sedge
Carex ovalis, lesser spearwort, marsh bedstraw
Galium palustre, tufted forget-me-not
Myosotis laxa, common sedge
Carex nigra, common spike-rush
Eleocharis palustris, marsh foxtail
Alopecurus geniculatus, jointed rush
Juncus articulatus, common yellow sedge
Carex demissa and greater bird’s-foot trefoil
Lotus pedunculatus, with common spotted-orchid
Dactylorhiza fuchsii and red bartsia
Odontites vernus nearby and very frequent marsh thistle on the edges of the damper ground. The runnel becomes more like a shallow ditch to the north-east, still supporting common fleabane
Pulicaria dysenterica, jointed rush, greater bird’s-foot trefoil and lesser spearwort.