Part 1 - Before 1959

Redgrave and Lopham Fen lies in a chalky valley and is the largest fen in lowland England. The 123.5 hectare site is at the head of the River Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. In the late 1950's, Prof. David Bellamy studied the fen and found a diverse and fascinating mosaic of fen communities, rich in rare species of both acid and alkali loving plants. This richness was a result of the fen's unique water regime, complex geology and soil structure and the traditional management practices of local people over many years.

The natural landscape has also been moulded and shaped by people and their livestock. At the time of the Enclosures, in the 18th century, the fen was designated as "Poors Land" and set aside in compartments for use by the poor of the parishes of Redgrave (Redgrave Fen), South Lopham (Great Fen & Little Fen) and North Lopham (Middle Fen). The fen provided many raw materials and some income for the local economy.

Peat turves were cut for fuel, creating open pools, which are today home for rare aquatic plants, and the Fen raft spider, a Ramsar species, also listed in the UK's Red Data Book of rare species.

There was an all-year-round supply of alkaline water rising under pressure from the water-bearing chalk rocks deep below ground, and seeping onto the surface. This water reached the surface at the spring flushes, mostly around the peat margin, producing short, open mixed fen, rich in plant species. In other areas of the fen, the chalky water interacted with the complex layers of gravels, sands, clays, silts and peat before reaching the surface. The fine mosaic of soil conditions created a patchwork of fen plant communities, from the highly calcareous mire, through sedge, rush and reed beds to acid fen containing wet heath, sedge and many species of sphagnum moss. On the drier margins, where more acid sands dominated, there were dry heaths and grasses.

Walkways, left between the peat digging sites, evolved into species-rich fen meadows. Sedge and reed were cut for thatching. Invading bushes were thinned out at harvesting, which prevented the reedbeds becoming woodland. The cutting of furze (gorse) and brushwood faggots also helped keep scrub to a minimum. Mixed vegetation was cut for bedding for cattle and horses. Some of this was for local use, but much was also sold to merchants in London. The cutting of taller, more vigorous plants allowed the smaller ones to flourish. Sheep, cattle and horses grazed the marginal land, heaths and fen meadows, helping to maintain the diversity of the fen.

In 1954, Redgrave and Lopham Fen was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in recognition of its outstanding conservation interest.

Part 2 - After 1959

In 1959, the drilling of a borehole for drinking water and then further deepening of the River Waveney in the 1960's lowered the water table and started a process of drying out and degradation of the fen.

Spring-fed fens, like Redgrave and Lopham Fen, are extremely vulnerable to changes in water levels. A developing consumer society demanded more water and in 1959 a borehole was sunk next to the fen and water stopped coming into the fen from below. It could take 3,600 cubic metres of water from the aquifer every day, diverting it from the fen to household taps and factories.

In the early 1960's, the bed of the River Waveney was deep-dredged to improve land drainage in the surroundig farmland - further increasing the outflow of water from the fen. In a short space of time, the fen's hydrology (water system) changed from an all-year-round alkaline water supply, creating a variety of habitats; to a more acid, rain-fed and winter flood water supply which overrode the natural variation in soil chemistry and created a homogeneous habitat. Summer droughts followed the winter floods and the shallower pools started to dry out every year, to such an extent that the fen raft spider population had contracted to only two small colonies which had to be kept going by artificial irrigation of their pool habitat by waterpipe networks.

As the fen dried out, many species of rare chalk-loving plants disappeared and were replaced by reed communities and common plants such as stinging nettles. Scrub of silver birch, oak and thorn invaded as the fen dried out further. Traditional use of the fen declined between the two world wars as labour became scarcer, and it became uneconomic to harvest the fen products. As the taller plants were no longer removed, the delicate small ones could not compete and they disappeared.

At the same time traditional management declined. The arrival of the railways with cheap coal put paid to peat digging. Two World Wars and increasing farm incomes saw the decline of arduous and poorly paid fen work.

Drying out and dereliction caused the Fen to deteriorate. The grass and sedge became overgrown, and scrub marched across the Fen. The peat rotted, releasing centuries of stored nutrients. The Fen became dependent on river water polluted with agricultural run-off. The rarest and most important wetland wildlife went first, followed by the less demanding species.

In 1961, Suffolk Wildlife Trust was born out of the plight of the fen. Some clearing of scrub and grazing was reintroduced, but resources were not available to undertake large-scale work. The borehole and dredged river were still there preventing vital water reaching the fen.

By the late 1980's the situation was critical - Redgrave and Lopham Fen simply could not survive the modern world.

Part 3 - Restoration

Conservationists name the fen as an important wetland and an internationally acclaimed restoration project was begun

In 1991, Redgrave and Lopham Fen was designated a RAMSAR site and in 1993 it was awarded National Nature Reserve status. Since then, Suffolk Wildlife Trust has joined with English Nature, the Government's conservation body, to manage the fen. The situation at the fen continued to decline until, in the early 1990's the National Rivers Authority (now the Environment Agency) undertook studies of the fen to assess how bad the damage was and how possible it would be to restore it.

The recovery of the fen following the restoration can be measured by the reappearance and expansion of characteristic fen plant and animal communities. In time, the recovery of species will bring the fen back to a rich, wet wilderness.