Earls Lane Orchard
Evesham Road, Cleeve Prior, WR11 8JY
Grid reference SP081 492 Purchased 2nd December 2005. Access: By arrangement with Cleeve Prior Heritage Trust. |
This 6acre orchard has been managed by Cleeve Prior Heritage Trust on behalf of VLHT since 2007.
The orchard is well located for connectivity of semi-natural habitats as on the north side lies Earls Lane Woodland; a small woodland- creation site owned by the Woodland Trust and planted in 1999/2000 using a mixture of native broadleaved species. And on the east side of the orchard is Cleeve Prior Millennium Green, an area of open grassland, scrub, native shrub planting and ponds, owned by the Cleeve Prior Millennium Green Trust.
The orchard is well located for connectivity of semi-natural habitats as on the north side lies Earls Lane Woodland; a small woodland- creation site owned by the Woodland Trust and planted in 1999/2000 using a mixture of native broadleaved species. And on the east side of the orchard is Cleeve Prior Millennium Green, an area of open grassland, scrub, native shrub planting and ponds, owned by the Cleeve Prior Millennium Green Trust.
This site has been orchard since the early 1900s and consisted of big old apple trees as well as pears at the time of purchase by VLHT. Two rows of Purple Pershore plums also remain dating back to the 1940s. Many trees had been lost over the years and replanting was carried out in 2008/2009 with 40 plum and 90 apple trees, including cider apples kindly donated by Priors Tipple Cider Company. Many of the remaining original trees are in decline and so are being retained for their significant value to wildlife. The decaying wood is home to many invertebrates including the Noble Chafer, a rare metallic-green beetle which depends on old orchards for its survival.
|
Small birds nest in holes in the trees and these attract birds-of-prey such as Sparrowhawks and owls which hunt across the orchard. Great Spotted Woodpecker feeds by chiselling through the bark of old trees with its powerful beak, to find beetle larvae inside the rotting wood while its larger cousing the Green Woodpeckers feed from ants in the orchard grassland, probing into the soft anthills. Bats hunt across the orchard at night, catching moths, beetles and other nocturnal flying insects. Wood Mice store plum stones in the hollow trees which they return to feed on during the winter. |
There is an old Nissen hut in the orchard which is believed to have been installed after the Second World War as MOD surplus. The orchard was divided into 3 paddocks all with access to the Nissen hut and was grazed by horses and cattle for some 30 years. More recently Highland Cattle were brought in to graze in an attempt to manage the grassland, but they did considerable damage to the tree guards so had to be moved out. At present the orchard grass is cut once a year by machine to prevent course vegetation from taking over and it is hoped that grazing can be re-introduced in the future.
|