An internationally important wetland, and home to thousands of animal and plant species, Wicken Fen offers a unique window onto a lost landscape.
The National Trust was only 3 months old when, in 1895, it was approached by Mr Herbert Goss with a request.
The entomologist asked if we would consider saving Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. Four years later we purchased 2 acres of the fen from Goss’s colleague, JC Moberley for £10.
Fifty six further separate conveyances of portions of land and today we care for 653ha (1612 acres) of one of the most important surviving areas of wetland in Western Europe.
We have an ambitious plan to continue the expansion of Wicken Fen to create a 10,000 acre reserve of wetland.
The first English Nature Reserve
Wicken Fen is one of Britain’s oldest nature reserves, and England’s first. Centuries of management by sedge-cutting and peat-digging have endowed it with a unique fenland habitat rich in rare wildlife.
Insects are particularly abundant, with thousands of species of moth, butterfly and beetle, almost 2,000 different species of fly and 20 of dragonfly.
Twenty nine species of mammals and over 200 bird species have been recorded on the fen.
© NTPL / Joe Cornish
Where to look for wildlife at Wicken Fen
Wide droves and lush green paths take you right into the heart of Wicken Fen. A circular boardwalk around parts of the reserve offers an easy access route all year round. The Nature Trail and Adventurer's Trail will guide you through Britain's last area of undrained fenland, a wilderness rich in wildlife. Bird hides overlook reed-bed, marsh and open water, ideal for bird watching all year round.
Sedge fields
Saw-sedge (Cladium mariscus) has been harvested at Wicken Fen for hundreds of years. The value of this crop has stopped man draining the sedge fields, and created a habitat diverse in fen plants. During last century the sedge fields declined dramatically. Today we are restoring the fen to reverse this trend.
Look out for:
- milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre) flowering in July
- marsh pea (Lathyrus palustris palustris), flowering in June and July, a rare plant that is relatively easy to spot at Wicken Fen
- stacks of sedge awaiting collection by thatchers
- marsh harriers in summer and hen harriers in winter
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Fen meadows
These species-rich wet meadow areas of the fen are dominated by grasses and wild flowers.
Look out for:
- purple (Lythrum salicaria - L) and yellow (Lysimachia vulgaris - L) loosestrife flowering from June to August
- marsh thistle (Cirsium palustre), up to 2m tall, flowering from June to October
- devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) flowering from June to October
- snipes, which nest in the fen meadows
- hen harriers and owls in the winter
© Peter Brash
Droves
Historic pathways of the fens, droves are wide mown tracks with species-rich borders of grasses and rushes.
Look out for:
- ragged robin ((Lychnis flos-cuculi) flowering from May to August
- early marsh (Dactylorhiza incarnata) and southern marsh orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) flowering in June
- yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) flowering in July
- silverweed (Potentilla anserina), a flat-growing member of the rose family
- common comfrey (Symphytum officinale), loved by bumble bees
- common lizards
© National Trust / Richard Allen
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Lodes, ditches and drains
Lodes are ancient navigatable waterways that carry the drainage water from the drains and ditches that criss-cross Wicken Fen. They support a rich diversity of flora and fauna.
Look out for:
- kingfishers
- reed warblers
- yellow and white water lilies
- many different species of fish, including bitterling
- grass snakes swimming in hot weather
- many species of dragonflies and damselflies
- greater bladderwort (Utricularia neglecta), Wicken's only carnivorous plant, eating up to a quarter of a million invertebrates each year
© NTPL / Paul Wakefield
Carr and woodland
Carr (bushes and small trees up to 5m tall) and woodland, although damaging to fenland in abundance, provide a valuable habitat to Wicken Fen.
Look out for:
- flocks of fieldfares feeding on alder buckthorn berries in September
- guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), a type of honeysuckle, with white flowers in June and red berry clusters in winter
- brimstone butterflies
- woodcocks
- and listen for nightingales' singing and woodpeckers' tapping
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Adventurers' Fen, the Mere and the reed-beds
The reed-beds of Adventurer's Fen are among the most extensive inland examples in the country. The Mere was excavated from 1952-5, specifically to attract wildlife.
Look out for:
- large flocks of lapwings in winter
- wigeons, teals, shovelers on the Mere in winter
- bitterns over winter
- bearded tits in the reeds around the Mere
- marsh harriers during summer
© Peter Brash
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