The plant has hard fruits which benefit from trampling, so it often grows where cattle graze. It is probably the rarest flowering plant on the estate in terms of its distribution across Norfolk
Scarrow Beck
The realigning of the beck was part of a Higher Level agricultural Scheme (HLS). The stream now no longer runs in a straight line but meanders, flowing into the small pond close to the footpath and then into the lake through the newly constructed weir which will allow the stream to behave in a much more natural manner mean that much less silt should reach the lake.
This work has encouraged wet loving species to spread, providing a greater diversity of plants and insects and we hope to see wading birds, such as Snipe and Lapwing, return to nest on the pasture.
Already we have seen greater numbers of duck and geese using the water and a Bittern, normally they just come for a look round, stayed for several months. We have seen Oyster Catchers prospecting and our grass management should mean that they will stay with us in the coming years.
Reconstituting the heath
On the right as you drive into the main entrance of Felbrigg, about 10 hectares is being returned to the heathland that it would have been in 1860.