Valuable biodiverse grassland sites in Sherborne

Since 2012, EuCAN has worked with Sherborne Town Council on the conservation management of the Quarr Local Nature Reserve and the Terrace Meadows Site of Nature Conservation Interest to enhance the floweriness and wildlife value of these areas and in 2021 became involved in the management of the former ‘Pony’ field in Lenthay.

The road verge at the foot of the Sherborne Terraces SNCI with the Black Knapweed in its full summer glory! A brilliant plant for pollinators.

We are very pleased with the results of our efforts over the years to make some of the Sherborne grasslands more flowery and this photo of the Black Knapweed spectacle on the New Road junction last August featured in PlantLife’s magazine.

Our volunteers and trainees include people with mental health problems and learning difficulties, people who have retired to the area, perhaps feeling socially isolated, and who want to make a positive contribution, and graduates who have achieved academic qualifications in biological and environmental sciences and who are looking to widen their practical experience to increase their job prospects.

Haymaking on the Terraces 22.7.20

EuCAN minibaler in action

EuCAN volunteers doing it the old way!

Sherborne Terraces SNCI 2020 was an excellent year for Yellow Rattle.

removing the cut biomass from the Terraces verge to keep the nutrient levels down. And it’s working – look at the top photo on this page!

Our regular work on the Quarr and Terrace Meadows has included sowing wildflower seed, planting plug plants homegrown from locally sourced seed, keeping thorn and bramble scrub at bay and taking a hay cut each summer – all of which has led to a great improvement in the wildlife value of the sites and has been greatly appreciated by all the people that use these sites for walking and recreation.

Plugplants planted into the Jubilee Copse area of the Terraces – fenced against the rabbits!

Plugplants put into the Quarr in 2020