St Peter's Church adjacent to Martley Millennium Green. Photo by Becca Bratt.
Martley Millennium Green – a Natural Networks Case Study
Just to the south of St Peter’s Church in the village of Martley lies a little haven for wildlife – Martley Millennium Green. The Green is nestled between arable and pasture land as well as the gardens of nearby residential houses. The site connects to an area of ancient woodland to the south-east and other deciduous woodland and hedgerow habitats to the west and north, making Martley Millennium Green a vital corridor for wildlife, especially given the variety of habitats that this site offers.
View of the pond at Martley Millennium Green. Photo by Becca Bratt.
The Green features two ponds, which may be of considerable age: the long pond is believed to have been historically used to grow watercress and the plant can still be found growing within the waterbody. The circular pond is a more natural shape, with a central island and mature willows and sycamores providing shade along the margins. Grass snakes have been seen basking in sunny spots near the water’s edge.
The ponds are surrounded by flower-rich grassland, veteran fruit trees, margins of woodland and scrub, hedgerows and a tributary, which joins the northerly stretches of the Laugherne Brook (a Local Wildlife Site). The water table in the meadow is high and as a result, plants, such as ragged robin, greater bird’s foot trefoil, cuckoo flower and common spotted orchid, thrive in the wet flushes. The grassland is managed as a hay meadow with aftermath grazing by sheep for a short period in autumn/winter, which helps to maintain the low nutrient soil conditions that wildflowers need in order to thrive. A handful of veteran Worcester black pear trees survive in one corner of the meadow. Old fruit trees are highly valuable to rare insects, such as noble chafers whose larvae develop in their decaying wood.
In the winter of 2021-2022, Martley Millennium Green Trust received Natural Networks funding to carry out some biodiversity enhancements which included the sowing of wildflower seed in three areas.
Long pond restoration at Martley Millennium Green. Photo by Becca Bratt.
As the long pond had become choked with vegetation and the circular pond receives higher nutrient load from the leaf litter from the surrounding trees, both ponds needed some TLC. Partial desilting of both ponds took place, with reprofiling of a section of the bank of the circular pond, to allow safe access for wildlife and for colonisation of native plants in the margins. Silt from the long pond was deposited near the perimeter of the site and has provided a different type of habitat, with tall herbs growing in the higher nutrient earth and providing a source of seed for birds such as goldfinches, which have been observed feeding here.
Some sensitive tree work was carried out on the circular pond’s overhanging trees in order to reduce shade and leaf litter, with some of the log cuttings used to create a sculptural, vertical ‘loggery’ and bee bank for invertebrates to bask and burrow into. Native pond plants, such as marsh marigold, arrowhead, marsh woundwort, bogbean and purple loosestrife, were added to the margins of the circular pond and spring flowering bulbs were planted around the edges of the site. Fruit trees of local Worcestershire varieties (including Worcester black pear) were also planted on site to provide blossom and fruit for wildlife and for people.
Bee bank and loggery at Martley Millennium Green. Photo by Becca Bratt.
Martley Millennium Green Trust recently received grant money from Natural Networks to complete further habitat enhancement works over the autumn and winter of 2024-2025. Over 100 metres of new native hedgerow has been planted with damson trees added at intervals to reflect the species present in hedgerows in the surrounding landscape and to add further diversity. The new hedge whips have been fenced off to protect them from being nibbled by sheep. A small scrape has been created in an area of lower botanical diversity to extend the area of wet grassland habitat.
Sensitive management has taken place on some of the trees with willow, hazel and blackthorn being coppiced. A large log pile has been created, using limbs from the willow management, to give insects, small mammals and birds extra dead wood resources. Bird and bug boxes have been installed in a newly designated ‘children’s corner’, where people can sit at a new picnic table and enjoy their surroundings.
Near the ponds and tributary, hibernacula have been created to give amphibians and reptiles safe places to spend the winter. Combining the Green’s existing value for wildlife with the new improvements to the habitats on site will ensure biodiversity and visitors are given a boost in this picturesque part of Martley.
Meadow cranesbill at Martley Millennium Green. Photo by Becca Bratt.
Andy Palmer, a Trustee for Martley Millennium Green Trust said, “Our Natural Networks grants have been vital in helping us to deliver diverse habitats on the Green but, in many ways, the biodiversity reports from the Wildlife Trust and subsequent hand-holding have been even more important to guide us on our way.”
