Sustead Cluster

These four sites together make up what we believe was once Sustead Common, split up in 1973 when the parish relinquished the title. This complex is made up of four contiguous areas:

Sustead Common and The Surveyor’s Allotment – two areas of meadow grassland and scrub, with some mature trees, joined by a footbridge across a chalk stream, Gur Beck

Spurrell’s Wood – an area of Hazel coppices, Hornbeam and other native trees planted during the 1990s, surrounded by ancient boundary trees, with Gur Beck running though it

The Roadside Nature Reserve – species-rich verges which run along Sustead Road both north and south of the other sites

We believe there is significant benefit in bringing these discrete sites together under one complementary management body to increase biodiversity and optimise the benefits to wildlife. As a result of the management programme it has carried out, Felbeck Trust has met the biodiversity standards required for recognition of the four Sustead sites as a County Wildlife Site – helping to safeguard their wildlife value for the future.

Access

Post-code: NR11 8QZ

What3Words: headrest.lamp.attend

OS Map Reference: TG 187 374

Directions: From Sustead green, heading roughly north towards Aylmerton and Felbrigg Park, keeping the old Methodist Chapel on your right, the sites are on both sides of the road, close to the road bridge over the Gur Beck.

Parking: These sites have a very limited off-road car parking, either opposite the thatched cottage or at the south-eastern end of Spurrell’s Wood. Please show consideration to local residents and respect any verges designated as Roadside Nature Reserve.

Dogs: Dogs on leads are permitted at Sustead Common and the Surveyor’s Allotment.

No dogs are allowed at Spurrell’s Wood, in order to protect ground roosting and nesting birds.

Accessibility: The Roadside Nature Reserve runs alongside the road and is therefore wheelchair accessible. The other sites are accessed via pedestrian gates and are fairly level. However, there are inevitably some uneven patches and tree roots etc. In wet weather the paths may be slippery and muddy.

Habitat

Sustead Common & Surveyor’s Allotment lie to the south of the Holt Cromer

Ridge, on the southern edge of the Felbrigg Estate. The site is made up of two

landholdings: to the north is an area owned by The National Trust (0.09 ha), while

the area to the south is administered by North Norfolk District Council (0.29 ha). The

area is also a registered Common. The two sites are divided by Gur Beck, a tributary

of Scarrow Beck that runs into the river Bure. Habitats within the combined 0.38 ha

include wet grassland, hedges, trees, scrub and the stream itself. It also forms part

of a wider matrix within the farmed landscape in which it sits.

Spurrell’s Wood is separated from the other Sustead sites by the road, along which the Roadside Nature Reserve runs.

The habitat is predominantly deciduous woodland, believed to have been planted under a Woodland Grant Scheme in the 1990s, comprising mostly hard woods, including Hornbeam, but also areas of Willow carr and Hazel coppice. There are mature hard woods on about a quarter of the site with remnants of ancient woodland, mostly Oak, on the north and west boundaries. Some small patches of original grassland remain. The site is bounded on the east by Sustead Common Road and to the south by hedge and ditch. Gur Beck crosses the site from west to east, close to the northern boundary.

The Roadside Nature Reserve is part of Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Roadside Nature Reserve Scheme. Many roadside verges are very old, lining routes that have changed little since they were laid down centuries ago. They represent tiny fragments of the unimproved, semi-natural grassland that was once widespread throughout the country, but which has declined by 98% since 1945, as a result of changes of land use, intensive cultivation and drainage. In the past, road verges were cropped for hay, or grazed by livestock. Hand-scything continued in some places until the end of the 1950s, with the cuttings raked up and used for hay. This form of management produced the species-rich grassland that still exists on some verges today. As a result, roadside verges are among the few remaining places where plants that were once common can still be seen growing in the wild. Roadside Nature Reserves are linear, and act as wildlife corridors for many species, providing ideal hunting grounds for species such as raptors and bats.

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Habitat Management

Sustead Common and Surveyor’s Allotment

When Felbeck Trust began managing the sites in 2017, the Common and Surveyor’s Allotment were badly overgrown and, without Felbeck Trust intervention, would have reverted to woodland. After completion of basic habitat restoration work a 'permissive path' and a bridge over the stream created public access to the whole area.

These traditional areas of less intensively managed land are becoming increasingly rare in Norfolk. What 50 years ago was every day is now seldom seen and this small site has the potential to become, in its own way, a link in the chain of local sites, providing a rich source of biodiversity that will enrich the surrounding area.

What have we achieved?

Created an access path with footbridges across Gur Beck
Managed the grassland areas by cutting (using traditional hand scything) and removing arisings, to maintain and enhance the grassland habitat – encouraging the recovery of wild flowers from the seed bank – and the invertebrates it supports.
Cleared and controlled scrub encroachment, managing the remaining areas on a rotational basis.
Restored and replanted existing hedge boundaries, using appropriate native species.
Removal of some of the younger trees, to promote the grassland area, which holds the more diverse habitat.
Raising the water table to extend the existing winter flooding wetland area – managing run-off and improving water quality and habitat
Installation of bird and bat boxes
Control of overhanging trees along the Gur Beck
Created an outdoor classroom area providing opportunities for helping youngsters to engage with nature

What are our future plans?

Having managed these sites for five years, Felbeck Trust has achieved most of its aims for these sites. Work now largely involves a maintenance programme to ensure that the habitat is maintained for the benefit of wildlife.

Spurrell’s Wood

In 2018 the Trust successfully raised funds to purchase the 4.75-acre Spurrell's

Wood. This is now open to the public via a defined circular perimeter path. There is a

hide at the end of the wood, with access to Felbeck Trust’s supporters and

volunteers.

The woodland had been seriously neglected since planting, creating a closed canopy

which largely excluded sunlight to the woodland floor. Felbeck Trust’s management

aims to allow the whole site to become a haven for wildlife, as well as ensuring the

longevity of the majority of trees.

Sites of less intensively managed woodland are becoming increasingly rare in

Norfolk. This small wood is an important link in the chain of local sites providing a

source of biodiversity that enriches the surrounding area and which, with careful

management, will enhance the wildlife value of the whole area of the former Sustead

Common.

What have we achieved?

Species surveys across a wide range of taxa to establish the existing wildlife
value of the site and gauge its local significance
Introduction of rotational woodland management, with limited felling, planting,
pollarding and coppicing, to produce a progressive age range in species,
resulting in a mosaic of maturity to benefit wildlife
Erecting bird and bat boxes
Removal of old tree guards, stakes and other litter
Felling of selected trees to allow sunlight to the woodland floor and enable
other trees to flourish by reducing competition between species in the canopy
Creation of log piles for wildlife
Enhancing areas with new plantings, to increase diversity and break up formal
planting lines.
Control of bramble and hawthorn scrub, exposing areas of remnant ancient
grassland, protecting areas suitable for orchids
Installation of gated access at site boundary adjacent to road
Strengthening hedge boundaries, using appropriate local native species.
Construction of pedestrian bridge across Gur Beck, linking north and south
sides
Management of ditches to enhance biodiversity and promote wildlife and
general viability of the site
Working to improve the water quality and habitat of the Gur Beck in
conjunction with the Upper Bure Valley Partnership and Norfolk Rivers Trust
by creating scrapes to filter and remove sediment
Creation of a network of paths providing access for conservation and
monitoring work
Installation of an artificial Otter holt
Creation of a permissive path around the site
Installation of a bird hide to allow our supporters to view wildlife without
causing disturbance

What are our future plans?

Our programme of work is close to completion, with some coppicing and pollarding

of Hazel and Hornbeams still outstanding. Thereafter, work will largely involve a

maintenance programme to ensure that the habitat is conserved for the benefit of

wildlife.

Roadside Nature Reserve

Felbeck Trust has been managing the Roadside Nature Reserve within NWT’s Roadside Nature Reserve Scheme since 2017.

What have we achieved?

The verges are managed by regular hand-scything and raking, replicating traditional practices
Erection of marker posts to protect scarce species

What are our future plans?

We will continue our current management practices to control vegetation, allowing wild flowers to flourish

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