The River Culm at Killerton - one year on

Tim Dafforn, Countryside Manager for the National Trust at Killerton, describes the changes in wildlife seen on the Culm floodplain at Coumbjohn since the Trust lifted grazing pressure and undertook some earthworks to improve the water storage capacity and habitat complexity of the area. The following pictures (you can slide the central bar to reveal the whole of the original pictures) give you a sense of the changes that have taken place in the vegetation and landscape in the last two years, making this one of the most ambitious nature recovery schemes on the River Culm. NB: the image above shows some of the longhorn cattle being used to extensively graze the floodplain and surrounding slopes.

The first phase of the restoration work was carried out in 2021 and so has had 2 years of naturalisation. These are the first two pairs of pictures in the images below (picture credit: Mark Neville/National Trust) .

The second phase took place in 2022, and these images follow (picture credit: James Maben).

Tim says:

“The second phase of floodplain restoration at Killerton is well underway. These images show the development of the shallow scrapes and ditches that were created in late 2022.

In conjunction with reduced grazing pressure, these features are now providing space for marginal plants and young willows to establish, the deeper sections hold water for long enough for frogs to breed in.

The long grass is now slowing peak flows and capturing silt in the process. This winter has seen increased numbers of Snipe, Heron and Egret populations with regular sightings of Otters using the ditch network.

The summer season has seen the return of hunting Barn Owls and Kestrels showing the positive effect of rough grassland and increased small mammal populations.”