Background

Norfolk FWAG was approached by a landowner with a derelict piece of marsh near Norwich. The landowner was unsure how to manage the site, but anecdotal evidence suggested it once supported booming bitterns, indicating strong potential for wetland restoration.

Our first site visit in 2019 revealed a degraded fen, dominated by sedges, nettles, and cleavers. Historical dredging of the River Yare had left dredged material on the banks, impounding the river and disconnecting it from its floodplain. This left the fen dry for most of the year, with ditches that had long since filled in.

After surveying the area, we successfully registered the site on the Priority Habitat Inventory as lowland fen.

Funding & Planning

We explored multiple funding avenues:

Higher Tier Stewardship – oversubscribed, and the site’s small size scored too low.

Nature for Climate grant – insufficient peat depth prevented eligibility.

Ultimately, we secured a 3-phase WEIF grant from the Environment Agency. The project aimed to:

Lower the riverbank

Restore the ditch network, ponds, and scrapes

Reinstate culverts with right-angle pipes to hold water on site

By rewetting the peat, the project not only restored biodiversity but also contributed to climate change mitigation by preventing carbon loss from oxidising peat soils.

Project Outcomes

The restoration has delivered remarkable ecological improvements:

Flora: The dormant seed bed has been reactivated, with wetland species like meadowsweet, purple loosestrife, fen bedstraw, and marsh valerian now thriving.

Fauna: Norfolk Hawker dragonflies, whirligig beetles, water voles, toads, otters, marsh harriers, and reed buntings have returned to the site.

Ongoing Management: A Higher Tier application has been approved in principle to ensure long-term fen maintenance.

Additionally, by reconnecting the floodplain to the River Yare, the project has increased water storage capacity upstream of Trowse, helping to mitigate local flooding events.

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Peatland restoration, Chestnut Farm

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Fen Restoration Near Norwich

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Henry Walker

Discover how Norfolk FWAG transformed a derelict marsh near Norwich into a thriving lowland fen, restoring biodiversity, improving flood resilience, and rewetting peatlands to combat climate change.