“This fen seems to boast just about every botanical rarity possible for its small size – a classic example
of just how rich a valley fen can be.”

With over 250 flowering plants, 20 species of butterfly including white admiral and grayling, and 200 types of moth such as the oak eggar and dotted fan-foot Market Weston Fen is a wildlife paradise. It comes as no surprise to learn that it is one of the finest fragments of valley fen in East Anglia and is nationally and internationally important for wildlife.

A public footpath passes through the fen, or you can take the circular waymarked trail to explore other areas of the reserve. This takes you up onto higher ground and into a patchwork of scrub, heath and ponds before leading you back to the open fen, which is dominated by sedge beds.

Most of the sedge fen, used commercially to cap thatched roofs, is cut every 3-5 years. Fen meadow areas are cut annually. This regular harvesting allows a superb display of flowering fen plants to thrive particularly marsh lousewort, purple loosestrife, grass-of-Parnassus, marsh helleborine and insectivorous sundew.

Birds like snipe, sedge, reed and grasshopper warbler breed in the open fen and nightingale nest in the scrub. Keep a look out for kingfisher darting along the stream and the secretive common lizard basking in the sun.

Market Weston Fen - 2007 reserve extension

Our nature reserve was 44 acres of the total 124 acres of rich valley fen which is designated as SSSI.  After a a unique opportunity to buy a further 47 acres of fen to create a 91 acre nature reserve we have more than doubled the size. This means that three quarters of the SSSI is owned and managed directly for wildlife.

A legacy gift kindly left to the Trust by David Feavearyear put the land purchase within our reach – and we raised a further £40,000 through a successful fundraising appeal and the purchase was completed at the end of 2006.   Thank you to all who contributed!

Thank you also to Biffaward who are funding habitat restoration and grazing infrastructure improvements.

Small wetlands are particularly vulnerable to outside influences, especially impacts on water levels.   As well as increasing the area of wildlife habitat, enlarging the nature reserve has helped to secure the site’s hydrology and give the fen a more stable future.

Using our experience from other reserves, we have introduced winter grazing with our hebridean sheep flock on the drier margins of the new land.  This has encouraged grazing cattle to push deeper into the heart of the fen during the summer months and maximise the restorative benefits of grazing.

Directions TL 983789
You are most welcome to visit the nature reserve, but please park with consideration for our neighbours. 

Original SWT reserve 17.5ha
Reserve extension19.3ha
Total SSSI 49.87ha

David Feavearyear was a member of the Trust for 15 years and his legacy will ensure the fen’s unique wildlife can be enjoyed by generations to come.  Click here for more information about leaving a legacy for wildlife.

Market Weston reserve information.

Cattle grazing is one way to manage the fen habitats	Common Butterwort, an insectivorous plant originally thought extinct in Suffolk, has made a comeback thanks to management at the fen	Valley fens are one of the richest plant habitats in Suffolk	Konic ponies also play an important role in grazing the wetter parts of the fen
Restoration mowing of the fen is undertaken using specialist low ground pressure machinery	Creating shallow peat scrapes encourages rarer wetland species such as butterwort	Purple loosestrife grows by the pondand provides nectar for insects	Market Weston Fen is one of the best places to see the rare marsh fragrant orchid

Other Trust reserves nearby: Hopton Fen, Thelnetham Fen