Knettishall
Knettishall is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the south bank of the River Little Ouse (the Norfolk-Suffolk border), in 2005 it had a population of 40. From the 2011 census the po ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...
. A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
Despite its name, Knettishall Heath is in fact a diverse mosaic of habitats with
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
.
Ecology
The site is heath and grassland, mainly on acidic soils, with areas of secondary woodland and wet hollows. There are heathland plants such as sheep's sorrel,
tormentil
''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...
,
harebell
''Campanula rotundifolia'', the harebell, Scottish bluebell, or bluebell of Scotland, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This herbaceous perennial is found throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemi ...
Brecks
Brecks is a suburb of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated roughly 2 miles from central Rotherham. Brecks borders the suburb Wickersley. The A631 road
The A631 is a road running from Sheffield, South Yorkshire to Louth, L ...
, 30% are nationally rare. The heath is home to the rare grey carpet moth which is only found in
Breckland
Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...
, and the lunar yellow underwing moth. Seven bat species are found at Knettishall, including the nationally scarce barbastelle bat.
Exmoor ponies
In 2013, a five-year funded project to restore lowland heath at the nature reserve began. As part of this project, 19 wild
Exmoor ponies
The Exmoor pony is one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds native to the British Isles. Some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor has been give ...
have roamed and grazed the land, helping other species to thrive. The 'Vision for the Future' project was funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and WREN - a not-for-profit organisation that offers grants for heritage and biodiversity schemes.
The shrinkage of heathland has been caused partially by a decline in
rabbits
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit spe ...
grazing; rabbit populations have been decimated by
myxomatosis
Myxomatosis is a disease caused by '' Myxoma virus'', a poxvirus in the genus '' Leporipoxvirus''. The natural hosts are tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis'') in South and Central America, and brush rabbits (''Sylvilagus bachmani'') in North ...
and more recently
rabbit haemorrhagic disease
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD), also known as viral hemorrhagic disease (VHD), is a highly infectious and lethal form of viral hepatitis that affects European rabbits. Some viral strains also affect hares and cottontail rabbits. Mortality rate ...
(RHD). The addition of ponies grazing the heathland looks to reverse this shrinkage.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
burial mound
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
at Hut Hill are evidence of thousands of years of human occupation in the area.
At the western end of the heath, ‘patterned ground’ shows evidence of the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
. Repeated freezing and thawing of ground created a unique mix of the sandy soil and the underlying
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Cha ...
. Unusual vegetation stripes reflect the two soil types, and the different plants that grow in each.
Footpaths
It is the site where four
long-distance footpaths
A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents ...
meet:
Angles Way
The Angles Way is a long-distance footpath in England, close to the River Waveney and River Little Ouse and thus close to the Norfolk/Suffolk border between Great Yarmouth and Thetford.
Originally the Angles Way went only as far as Knettishall ...
,
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.
Background
It is generally said to be, with ...
,
Iceni Way
The Iceni Way is a collective name for several long-distance footpaths running from Knettishall Heath to Hunstanton via the Little Ouse and Great Ouse valleys in the English county of Norfolk.Peddars Way (part of the Norfolk Coast Path, a
National Trail
National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, a statutory agency of the UK government, and Natural Resources Wales (successor body to the Countryside Council for Wa ...
). The Icknield Way joins with the Peddars Way at the end of its journey from
Ivinghoe Beacon
Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, England, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills, close to Ivinghoe and Aldbury. Dunstable, Berkhamsted and Tring are nearby.
The Beacon lies within the ...
in Buckinghamshire. The Icknield Way trail, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also joins with the Peddars Way riders route.
The
Hereward Way
The Hereward Way is a long-distance footpath in England that links the Viking Way at Oakham with the Peddars Way at Knettishall Heath, near Thetford.
The path takes its name from Hereward the Wake, the 11th-century rebel leader who fough ...
ends nearby in East Harling, and it linked to Knettishall Heath by path.
Access
There are several access points to the heathland, most found off the road between
Knettishall
Knettishall is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the south bank of the River Little Ouse (the Norfolk-Suffolk border), in 2005 it had a population of 40. From the 2011 census the po ...
and Rushford villages. The main car park for the area can be found on an unnamed road (informally known as Heath Road) off Spalding's Chair Hill.
The A1066 passes within a mile or two of the heathland, where it runs from
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...
to
Garboldisham
Garboldisham () is a village and civil parish, part of Guiltcross in the Breckland district, in Norfolk, England, near the boundary with Suffolk. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 721 which increased to 969 at the 2011 Census.
...
.
Gallery
File:Peddars Way - Knettishall Heath.jpg, Peddars Way on the heath
File:Icknield Way, near Euston - geograph.org.uk - 1599671.jpg,
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.
Background
It is generally said to be, with ...
nearby
File:Standing In Norfolk - geograph.org.uk - 1619239.jpg, Bridge over
River Little Ouse
The River Little Ouse is a river in the east of England, a tributary of the River Great Ouse. For much of its length it defines the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk.
It rises east of Thelnetham, close to the source of the River Waveney, w ...
File:Footpath, Knettishall Heath - geograph.org.uk - 1458843.jpg, Footpath on the heath
File:Dew Pond on Knettishall Heath - geograph.org.uk - 911519.jpg, Dew Pond on Knettishall Heath
File:River Little Ouse at Knettishall - geograph.org.uk - 338087.jpg,
River Little Ouse
The River Little Ouse is a river in the east of England, a tributary of the River Great Ouse. For much of its length it defines the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk.
It rises east of Thelnetham, close to the source of the River Waveney, w ...
File:Two footpaths meet road - geograph.org.uk - 1458840.jpg, Meeting point of Icknield Way (left) and Peddars Way (right)