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The Problem
The Background
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The Background
Location: Suffolk
The Sudbury common lands is a beautiful tract of lowland river valley landscape abutting the town of Sudbury in Suffolk.
Grazing has been recorded here since the late 12th century when the right to graze four cows and twenty sheep on King's Marsh and Freemen's commons. Today the Sudbury Freemen's rights to pasture their livestock still exist on the 115 acre Sudbury Common Lands.
The area was designated as a local nature reserve in 1990. All management is carried out by the trustees of the Sudbury Common Lands charity through two rangers assisted by volunteers.
The winters of 2000, 2001 and 2002 were uncharacteristically wet and there was considerable flooding. At such times the Sudbury Common Lands act as a temporary reservoir fro billions of gallons of excess water until the river Stour drains it away to the sea.
On the valley flood plains this is an entirely acceptable and expected course of events and serves as a reminder that development should not take place on these areas. Farming through the centuries took this into account and until the Second World War, all lowland river valley flood plains were managed as summer grazing pastures or hay meadows which encouraged a rich and diverse wildlife to flourish.
In Sudbury this traditional form of management still continues although much of the Stour valley floodplain has been ploughed up for the production of arable crops with the consequent loss of flora and fauna.
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