Soham Wet Horse Fen

Also within

Cambridgeshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Description This collection of meadows holds neutral grassland communities of the calcareous loam pasture type together with elements of alluvial meadow and calcareous clay types. Nationally such community types are restricted to the south of the country. Such species rich grassland occurs infrequently in Cambridgeshire and represents habitats which are now rare in the country as a whole. Traditionally these grasslands are managed for hay and for grazing. The calcareous loam grassland communities are characterised by a sward of such species as creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera, sweet vernal grass Anthoxantum odoratum, red fescue Festuca rubra and cock’s foot Dactylis glomerata, together with meadow saxifrage Saxifraga granulataa and wild carrot Daucus carota. The wetter areas are dominated by a mixture of grasses, sedges and rushes. hard rush Juncus inflexus, blunt flowered rush Juncus subnodulosus and common spike rush Eleocharis palustris are particularly abundant. A variety of herbs are present including the local green winged orchid Anacamptis morio and the adder’s tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum. Drier areas have a range of herbs including cowslip Primula veris, milkwort Polygala vulgaris and stemless thistle Cirsium acaule. A number of uncommon plants are to be found on the site and the wet pastures are favoured as breeding areas for snipe Gallinago gallinago. Hedgerows are an additional feature of value and a number of old boundary features and are rich in tree and shrub species.

Species mentioned