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Herefordshire Nature Trust is delighted to announce the start of this new three-year project. It is funded partly by the Heritage Lottery Fund and partly by the European Union (EAFRD) and Defra through the VITAL Herefordshire LEADER programme.
This project will increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of old parklands within the county. Britain is considered a European stronghold for old parkland and Herefordshire is nationally recognised as having a significant number of them. These parklands were often associated with large country estates and deer parks. Others were once wooded commons.
A mapping exercise will be undertaken to determine the extent of old parkland within Herefordshire and then a team of volunteers will be recruited to survey a selection of them.
Of particular interest within old parklands are large veteran trees. These are often several hundreds of years old and the trunks can grow to enormous widths. As well as counting the number of veteran trees on a site the volunteers will survey each tree for wildlife habitats such as rotting wood, holes, cracks and fissures and will also record evidence of wildlife present such as fungi, insects and bats. As these are historical landscapes the volunteers will also be trained to look out for and record archaeological features associated with the old parklands.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer surveyor (full training will be given) please contact Lewis Goldwater on 01432 356872 or e-mail l.goldwater@herefordshirewt.co.uk.
