Grazing cattle to return to Puttenham Common
It is part of a restoration project
For the first time in nearly a century, grazing cattle will be reintroduced to Puttenham Common.
Owned by the Hampton Estate, and sitting between Farnham and Guildford, the common is an important Site of Special Scientific Interest spanning over 113 hectares.
The returning livestock are part of a wider project which is working to bring about landscape-scale ecological restoration.
The collaboration between Hampton estate and ecological consultancy EPR has secured a 10-year Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier grant for restoration of long-lost Priority habitats
Research has revealed that the abandonment of ‘commoning activities’ after the 1940s led to changes to the previously open heathland common.
Commoning is a term for ancient land management practices which involved farmers having “commoners rights” to graze their animals on a shared piece of land, such as Puttenham Common.
Without livestock feeding from and fertilizing the land, new and plentiful plants and shrubs were free to grow without intervention, changing the landscape drastically.
This caused the loss of large areas of habitats for nature conservation, including lowland heathland and lowland dry acid grassland, and the complete disappearance of a complex of bogs and mires that supported rare plant species.
Ben Kite, Group Strategy Director at EPR who are supporting the project, says he is excited about the upcoming developments in Puttenham Common’s ecology.
“There’s potential to revive missing heathland, acid grassland and bog habitats that we now know must once have been biodiversity-rich in this area – a critical initiative given the alarming 85% decline in lowland heathland across the UK in the last 200 years.”
“The grant will make a real difference to the future of Puttenham Common and complement the Estate’s wider BNG strategy. We are proud to support the Hampton Estate shift into an even more ecologically oriented approach to its business.”
The newly approved 10-year grant provides funding for capital works, reintroduction of livestock grazing, and the removal of trees to restore bog and heathland areas.
The long-term goal involves the return of a diverse array of specialist species, including Nightjar, Woodlark, Nightingale, reptiles, bats, Glow Worms, Silver-studded Blue and Small Heath Butterflies, and various rare plants.
Molly Biddell, Nature-Based Solutions Business Manager at Hampton Estate, says Puttenham Common plays a crucial role in supporting rare species.
“Restoring the land to its historical habitats presents a unique opportunity to enhance biodiversity, and we’re proud to be able to seize this opportunity.”
She added that she hopes the project will have a lasting impact on both local and national biodiversity goals.
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