Tour of Burton Mill pond

On Saturday, August 6^th, a group of some 15 members, partners and friends had a most interesting and informative three mile walk around Burton Mill pond, led by the Sussex Wildlife Trust Living Landscapes Officer, Jane Willmott.

Jane Willmott showing a rare Tanner Beetle (Prionus corianus)

This 56 hectare nature reserve is situated around three miles south of Petworth and comprises a 16^th Century hammer pond around which there is a walk-way through a range of different habitats within the reserve. This path has both surfaced and un-surfaced areas and includes a boardwalk over the wettest area.  The site is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the range of habitats and specialist species making it their home.

We started at the small car park, then crossed the road to view the pond with its reed beds and Alder and willow trees and clumps of pond sedge.

We then took the footpath anticlockwise around the western side of the pond past the Rowan trees heavy with berries, pausing for a while at New Piece wet heath, with its birch seedlings growing amongst two of the local heathers (Erica tetralix and Calluna vulgaris) and the bracken which is sometimes controlled by the hooves of grazing British White cattle (and lots of volunteers). There was also some locally uncommon cranberry growing there.  Further along we also found some Climbing Corydalis, Wood Sage and Enchanters Nightshade and a Hairy Shield Bug.

Erica cineria – Bell Heather (from the dry heath at Welch’s Common)

Then, just pass the remnants of the iron fence of the Burton Park Estate, our guide pointed out some enormous sweet chestnut trees, possibly dating back to the early eighteenth century, whose trunks provided nest sites for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and other birds and reportedly for some of the 18 species of bat found in the UK.

From there we walked down a road, past some houses, alongside a meadow called Snipe Bog (originally part of Burton Pond) with Southern Marsh Orchids, Marsh Bedstraw, Sedges and rushes, Mint and yellow Monkey Flower, then down a track with some ancient oaks and a group of poplars.

 We then walked along the path, over the dam separating Burton Mill pond and Chingford pond, pausing to observe a family of little grebes, then turned sharp left into woods around the southern shore of the pond. The reeds around both ponds are home to the rare Desmoulin’s Whorl Snail of Newbury Bypass fame! We then followed the trail through the coniferous woods with Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce and Douglas Firs, past a large badger set, and around the eastern shore of the pond.

It was in this wood that we came across the Tanner Beetle, a nationally scarce “Notable a” species.

We then stopped for a while to take the boardwalk into the Black Hole swamp with its Greater Tussock sedge, Bog Bean and Marsh Cinquefoil, tempting us with the chance of seeing the rare dragonflies, such as the Scarce Chasers, Ruddy Darters and the Golden-ringed Dragonfly, for which the area is famous (although too overcast today). From there we walked through Welch’s Common, dry heathland with its field crickets, heathers and graceful Wavy Hair-grass, and Alder Buckthorn, an important food source for insects, including the Brimstone butterfly. Its fruits are also important for over-wintering birds.

Then back, through the road works where the dam is being improved to the small car-park adjacent to the 19 century mill, reportedly build on the remains of one that was possibly twelfth century and reported to still contain an overshot wheel and some of the mill stones; a most informative and enjoyable morning.