Grasslands

Essex Grasslands Today

Historically, Essex has a strong link with grazing and open meadows. During mediaeval times large parts of the Essex countryside were put down to pastureland for sheep, a lucrative and well organised trade centred on London and abroad. Many of the county's towns, such as Braintree and Coggeshall, were built on the success of the trade.

Yet much of the land once openly grazed by sheep has disappeared over the centuries, and with the substitution of arable for mixed farming this century, particularly during the last 50 years, the need for grazing land and hay meadows has gradually disappeared.

Most of the grassland that remained unploughed has since been improved by the application of herbicides and nitrogenous fertilizers, or re-seeded. With the advent of feed supplements to provide essential vitamins, bulk became more important than quality. Small areas of unimproved grassland which have survived on the outskirts of villages and towns have been turned over to horses and ponies and frequently suffer from overgrazing. Eventually they become prime sites for building development.

It has been estimated that altogether 95% of the county's flower rich hay meadows have been lost since the turn of the century, and as much again in the two hundred years before, as a result of changing farming methods, and also as industry, housing, new roads, gravel digging, rubbish disposal and leisure activities all expanded to take up precious space.

Today, practically all the flower-rich grassland remaining in the county is confined to some old road verges, village greens and commons, railway embankments, woodland rides and glades, churchyards, nature reserves and other similar areas, and these will only remain flower-rich for as long as they are properly managed.

Some of the larger areas of unimproved grassland remaining in Essex are now nature reserves and are managed in the traditional fashion of hay-making or grazing, or by a combination of the two, haymaking in July followed by grazing of the aftermath. Some of the remaining coastal grasslands or grazing marshes are similarly protected and to ensure their survival it is essential that grazing continues. Most of these grasslands contain a specialised flora and fauna related to their proximity to the sea and a high water table.

Many road verges once covered with wild flowers are gradually losing their interest due to changes in management. Early this century and before, it was usual for cattle and sheep to be driven to market along our lanes and highways. As they proceeded, they grazed the verges which became in effect linear pastures. This grazing kept the verges in good order by keeping down the tall more vigorous vegetation and preventing it from forcing out the smaller flowering plants.

Between the wars, and for a time after the last war, road-men were employed to cut the verges by scythe and to collect and burn the cut material. A road-man's hut could be seen in most villages. This was as effective as grazing and enabled a good variety of plants to survive and prosper because cutting was carried out over a long and often variable period. Today, with the advent of machinery, the build-up of dead material left to rot after mechanical cutting has suppressed the smaller more attractive plants and also increased fertility. This increase in fertility has encouraged the growth of tall and rank vegetation at the expense of the smaller weaker plants. For this reason some of our best remaining verges are now protected as nature reserves, and cutting is carefully managed.

The Value of Open Grassland

Open grassland in Essex is not a truly natural habitat, but rather one that has come about as a result of human activities. Some areas of natural grassland are thought to have existed before human intervention, probably small, short-lived areas at the junction of coastal saltmarsh and dry woodland, or alongside rivers or where wild grazing animals maintained the sward.

However, the pattern and structure of grasslands in Essex have been the result of land management following gradual clearance of the original forest cover. Without management most grassland would quickly revert to forest, The once extensive area of coastal grazing marshes along the Thames estuary and following the deeply indented coastline of Essex has mostly disappeared under the plough, industrial development or London's refuse. These grazing marshes were largely formed by the construction of sea walls and the draining of the enclosed areas of saltmarsh.

Yet despite this semi-natural origin, unimproved grassland is vitally important for the wildlife of our county. Regular cutting or grazing stops woody and more 'aggressive' plants from taking over, and allows the less dominant, scarcer species such as orchids, cowslips, broomrapes, yellow rattle and other colourful plants to survive. Wet meadows can hold a different yet equally important mix of damp-loving species, and sandy and chalky sites have their own specialised colonies of plants.

The great variety of grasses and flowering plants found in ancient hay meadows is the result of possibly centuries of hay-making which has allowed the gradual accumulation of species over a considerable period of time, and it is not unusual for flower-rich grassland to contain a mix of over 60 species of plants and many more in local or isolated patches.

The grassland habitat is also an important home and feeding place for many species of birds, mammals and invertebrates which depend on the mix of grasses, rushes, sedges and flowers. any species of insects, especially butterflies and moths, depend on one particular species of plant as a food source in the larval stage, and an abundance of nectar producing flowers in the adult stage.

Elsewhere, large areas of grassland have been created, alongside new roads, railways, around housing and industrial estates, and most recently as part of the changing agricultural practices as land is put into set-aside. Much of this grassland holds little value for wildlife as it is either overmanaged or undermanaged, left to become scrub or planted up with non-native species of shrub and tree. Increase the area of unimproved and semi-improved grassland in the county by 4000 hectares from 4.4% to 6% of land area in the county.

Targets for 2000

• Secure good management of existing old grasslands and meadows to ensure their preservation and continued existence.
• Achieve better management of areas of amenity grassland, currently of minimal interest to wildlife in its regular close-mown state, to enhance their nature conservation interest.
• Optimise the opportunities and value of 'new' grassland areas - e.g. roadside verges, residential and industrial periphery and screening areas.
• Campaign to stop any further loss of existing unimproved grasslands through drainage, ploughing, re-seeding, treatment with herbicides, development or other cause.
• Secure protection of grasslands that are important to wildlife conservation through planning legislation or other means.

Achieving the grassland aims

• Encourage better management of village greens and road verges, showing by example what can be achieved. Consider the use of forage harvesters to remove the cut material in selected areas, and the practicality of using this material to make compost.
• Where new grassland is created consider the stripping of nutrient-rich topsoil and discontinue the present practice of covering the verges, cuttings and embankments of new roads with topsoil prior to re-seeding. Encourage the use of native wild-flower and grass seed mixes and ensure that subsequent management is suitable.
• Promote action to restore wet grassland areas where flood alleviation is not a priority.
• Encourage the re-establishment of permanent grassland in coastal sites and river valleys and other areas of high landscape value.
• Persuade more landowners to take up government grants for Countryside Stewardship, ESA and other similar schemes.
• Where land is put to permanent set-aside encourage optimum use for the benefit of wildlife.