Hempstead Meadows
Nature reserve is just off High Street
Hempstead Meadows nature reserve lies in the centre of Uckfield just metres from the traffic-congested High Street.
It is owned by the town council, nestles beside the River Uck and behind the Somerfield supermarket car park and is a haven for wildlife, mammals, reptiles, birds, insects and plants.
‘It is quite bizarre in a way to have a nature reserve just off the High Street,’ said assistant town clerk, Mrs Christine Wheatley.
The land was bought from farmer Percy Phillips and it was only afterwards that the council realised it was rich in flora and fauna and began work to have it designated a Local Nature Reserve.
An information board is now displayed, a circular walk has been created and there are benches where people can rest and soak up the atmosphere.
By-laws have been agreed and are typical of those for any nature reserve, according to Mrs Wheatley. They make it clear people shouldn’t disturb the animals but also include bans on flying kites and, perhaps more strangely, taking photographs.
Ecologist Dr Martyn Stenning, who works at the University of Sussex at Falmer, said he had spotted the ecological value of the land while travelling in and out of Uckfield by train and was prompted to join the town council for a time and help make sure that area of flood plain was protected.
He was worried at one stage to learn it was being considered as a potential integrated transport depot for the town and relieved when it received its nature reserve designation.
The flood plain was formed about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age and benefited from deposits of soils and nutrients washed onto the land when the river flooded, he said.
Farmers had always valued flood plain grazing, because the land didn’t need fertilising, and a cycle would have been followed at Hempstead Meadows with grass allowed to grow in the spring ready for a hay crop to be harvested in June. Then grazing animals would have been moved on until October when they had to return to high ground because of the risk of flooding.
The water of the Uck itself was some of the most pure in the whole of the Ouse catchment area, said Dr Stenning, and supported a huge range of pollution-sensitive species like migrating sea trout, mayflies and demoiselle damsel flies. The kingfisher bred on the river and it was likely the otter was coming back.
‘The river is very full of fish. You look over the bridge in the middle of the High Street to see shopping trolleys and rubbish and it looks dreadful, like an open sewer, but take out the trolleys and the superficial rubbish and you find the water is of very high quality. We should look after it.’ (Added to site Friday, June 8, 2007)
Read about plans for a wetland extension to the nature reserve on our Rydon Homes page. MoreChance to learn about wetland wildlifeThe ecological value of wetland which could be brought into the Hempstead Meadows nature reserve is superior to that of other town council-owned land in Uckfield, according to ranger Jo Heading.
Jo, an East Sussex County Council ranger, maintains the existing Hempstead Meadows reserve and West Park Nature Reserve but hasn’t yet had chance to explore the wetland.
‘Nothing that the council owns now is in that league,’ said Jo. ‘It is a very valuable bit of wetland and seems to stay wet through the year. It is rare to find land like this that hasn’t been drained by farmers for grazing land or to plant crops.’
When a path across it is opened to the members of the public later this year they will find it alive with dragon flies, damsel flies, butterflies and a big range of wild flowers. If people are very quiet and still and take binoculars they might spot snipe, shy and sensitive birds who would be frightened away by noise.
‘I think the wildlife potential is enormous and it would be a fantastic resource for the people of Uckfield to be able to access it and see the different species, especially as it is so close to town,’ said Jo.
One of the first things that would need to be done once the council took it over was get a detailed survey done to establish what was there and then decide on its management, she added.
The offer of land, plus a board walk, adjacent to Hempstead Meadows was made as part of a planning application to build homes off Hempstead Lane and became a condition of approval. Now a further piece of wetland is being offered by Rydon Homes who want to build two new homes at the bottom of Sunnybrook Close, off Hempstead Lane. (Added to site Friday, June 8, 2007)