REPORT ON THE FLORA SEPTEMBER 2000
Wetland and woodland communities Grasslands - The Garden - Black Fen Caveats Summary Ecology CONTENTS
Wetland and Woodland Plant Communities In the following report stresses the importance of the grassland communities at Bramham. This is not to underrate the woodland plants which compose the other major elements of the flora, nor the aquatic plants of the various pools which I did not have time to study and which should be looked at before major restoration work is carried out, for example to the T pond. The wooded areas have a flora characteristic of woodland in the area, such as wood anemone, bluebell, ramsons, dogs mercury, columbine, giant bellflower, primrose, toothwort, early purple orchid, broad leaved helleborine, wood melick and wood sorrel, all of which are probably natural. There are species such as monkshood and wolfsbane which are probably introductions. However in a site which has been a garden for three hundred years it is hard to make this distinction with confidence. It is not thought that any of the woodland in the pleasure grounds is ancient (i.e. pre 1600) although there is ancient semi-natural woodland in the vicinity. GRASSLANDS The Garden Black Fen The Garden There are essentially two types of grassland in the garden at Bramham resulting from their long-term management, which I shall call lawns and long grass areas or walks. Lawns are mowed regularly, about once a week in the growing season, while walks are left uncut until August when the grass is cut short and either baled and taken off or chopped up and left in situ. It should be noted that all walks have regularly mown areas (lawns) in the middle of them. Lawns I identified three areas of particular interest. 1 The main lawn south west of the house. (see illustration 1) This is on thin calcareous soil and has a rich flora, with plants characteristic of downland such as lady s bedstraw, fairy flax, cowslip, salad burnet, hoary plantain, common cat s ear, thyme, milkwort and eyebright. However there are also plants not usually associated with downland such as lady s mantle and devil s bit scabious. The quality varies somewhat with the richest area immediately to the south west of the parterre. There is a strip of little interest running north west south east between the parterre and the queen s hollow which marks the site of an old rhododendron walk and which I imagine must have been filled with peat in Victorian times. However it is not large enough to warrant separate treatment. 2. The lawn SW and NE of the Gothic Temple. This has a similar flora to 1 above but also has the uncommon plant, squinancywort, in the SW section (The Bowling Green).
3. The semicircular area of mown grass at SW end of the T pond. This too has the same flora as 1 but also has rockrose and burnet saxifrage. All three of these areas had been recently mowed and it was difficult to identify all the plants there. For example I would not be surprised if rockrose were to be present on all three sites. However according to documentation provided by the Leeds Naturalists Club, squinancywort is only shown as recorded from the Bowling Green. Since the management of these lawns mimics grazing it is not surprising that they have evolved a plant community similar to that of calcareous pasture. British Vegetation has been categorised in the National Vegetation Classification published in the five volumes of British Plant Communities edited by J.S. Rodwell. Cambridge University Press. These lawns approximate to the community CG2 which is found on chalk downland, but it would be a mistake to see them as an example of this rather than as a community in its own right which has evolved on a different soil and under different management. Recommendations General So far as I can gather these lawns have been cut regularly about once a week in the growing season, with the clippings left in situ. No herbicides have been applied and there have only been limited applications of chemical fertiliser when it was felt the grass needed perking up a bit. Ideally I would like to see the clippings removed and I cannot help feeling that this may have been done in the distant past. However I recognise the practical difficulties considering the area that has to be mown, and I would not in general recommend a change to the current practice. However I would insist that there are no further applications of chemical fertiliser. It should be borne in mind that nowadays atmospheric pollution contributes an appreciable input of nitrate which should suffice to replace any fertility removed by mowing. Specific I would like to see the plants being given some opportunity to set seed and would suggest that some experiments are carried out with an area being left unmown for several weeks in July and August. Even if this were to become a general prescription I would only see it being done in any one area every three or four years. I believe the experiment should start on the Bowling Green which has the richest flora and which is relatively tucked away. It also has the potential to allow the appearance of the small orchid Autumn Ladies Tresses which flowers at the end of August. A second experimental area could be 3. Part of this would benefit from being added to the adjacent walk. -see below. Long grass areas of walks The community which has developed along the walks contains plants characteristic of hay meadows on calcareous soils such as yellow rattle, knapweed, torgrass, yellowwort, meadow cranesbill, meadow saffron, quaking grass, salad burnet, common spotted orchid, twayblade, hairy and pale St John s wort, burnet saxifrage, cowslip, meadow
buttercup, creeping buttercup, Yorkshire fog, rough hawkbit, ox-eye daisy and betony. However a simple species list does not do them justice, since their most notable feature is the extraordinary profusion of the orchids (see illustration 2). The effect is enhanced by the flowers of the woodland edge through which these walks pass, most notably the large number of bluebells followed by wild columbines and broad-leaved helleborines. It is possible to approximate these walks to the neutral hay meadow community MG5 or long calcareous grassland CG5, but in fact the community here is sui generis. It is enriched by large numbers of cultivated daffodils in the areas nearer the house. The other long grass areas are rather similar, although the Queen s Hollow has some interesting plants not seen elsewhere in the garden grassland. These were clustered bellflower, greater bellflower, wood cranesbill, meadowsweet and a much greater density of betony (see illustration 3) than was found in the other areas. The most important walks are those radiating out from the house, areas 4 and 5, and the perimeter walk along the western side, area 6. The other important long grass areas are the Queen s Hollow,area 7, the areas either side of the Chapel, area 8 and the area where Mrs Lane Fox is buried, area 9. Recommendations General This long grass has traditionally been cut once a year at the end of summer. So far as I can ascertain the hay was baled and taken off from five years ago up to last year when it was cut with a flail mower and left in situ. Before that it was cut and left. I have not been able to find out whether the hay was removed before the war, but I would expect that to have been the case. I am concerned that the old vegetation is starting to build up and I would recommend that in future the most important walks are cut for hay in August and that the hay is removed. I consider that in the past this grass would have received regular chain harrowing and it would be worth carrying out some limited experiments on this technique. I would strongly recommend that no further cultivated daffodils or other bulbs are introduced into the important grassland areas. Specific Areas 4,5,6,8. Make hay in August and remove it. If this is not feasible I would recommend that these areas are flail-mowed in one year and have the hay removed in the next. It might even be sufficient to remove the hay no more than one year in three but this regime should not be followed without some experiments being carried out on its effectiveness. I would also recommend the experimental chain harrowing after cutting of some areas where the vegetation build-up is particularly thick. Area 7 Strim the vegetation once a year in September and rake it off. It is also recommended that a single mower s with is regularly cut behind the yew hedge which surrounds three sides of the hollow, so as to prevent rank vegetation such as nettles growing up behind the hedge and blurring its outline.
Area 9 I would recommend that some of the young trees are removed from this area so as to prevent the grassland plants being shaded out. This is one of the richest areas botanically and I do not feel that the retention of the sycamores and whitebeams would compensate for the loss of the meadow flora. BLACK FEN The grasslands here are different from those in the garden because they have developed on different soils. There is an area of dry calcareous grassland around the Round House and to the north west of it, but in general the ride plant communities are typical of wetter conditions and are mostly acidic, although some are calcareous. I do not have a complete species list for Black Fen and only covered it rather cursorily. However I saw enough to convince me that its grassland communities were of considerable interest. I would particularly like to draw attention to the following. 10. The area surrounding the Round House and the walk to the north west of it. This has typical limestone flora with rockrose, milkwort, salad burnet and lesser scabious but it is also the site of a good stand of fragrant orchids in addition to the common spotted orchids and twayblades. 11. The area surrounding the Obelisk Here too the ground appears calcareous but is much wetter. It has greater burnet as well as salad burnet, betony and fragrant orchid. 12. The area surrounding Lead Lads temple This has a rich wet grassland community including meadow rue, pepper saxifrage, wild angelica, greater birds foot trefoil, devil s bit scabious, meadowsweet, water avens, water mint, tufted vetch, yellow rattle, knapweed, sneezewort, at least one species of marsh orchid, and meadow saffron. Recommendations General The rides in Black Fen are too wet to consider making hay in them. I therefore think that that it would be best to continue the present practice of cutting them two or three times throughout the year and leaving the clippings in situ. In some rides it would be better to cut a narrow path down the middle and to leave the edges uncut. For example the ride between the Obelisk and Lead Lads has tall fen vegetation which does not need to be cut every year. Specific Areas 10, 11 and 12 should be cut once a year in September and the vegetation taken off. It could be hidden under nearby trees without being too unsightly. Caveats
In my brief survey I did not consider mosses, lichens or fungi. The management prescriptions I suggest should benefit these groups as well, but in the maintenance work to buildings and to hard (ungrassed) walks, attention should be paid to them. I could recommend appropriate experts to carry out a survey if required. I did not pay a great deal of attention to the woodland plants as I did not consider that the management of the garden woodland would threaten them much. I assume that there would be no proposal for planting of exotic shrubs. In the Leeds Naturalists Society s species list for SE4040. Summary The pleasure grounds at Bramham have a range of important plant communities. Of these the ones which require most specific management are the grassland communities of the lawns and walks. These have evolved over the past three hundred years and the secret in conserving them lies in continuing their traditional management. The dangers to be avoided are attempts to improve them by introducing garden forms or exotic species of plants which are not native to the site, e.g tulips, fritillaries or daffodils, the build up of vegetation by failing to cut appropriately and the application of fertiliser. It goes without saying that herbicides should not be applied. In particular the lawns should be appreciated as a jewelled carpet as in a medireview tapestry and no attempt should be made to make them into a green monoculture. Ecology A survey of flowering plants and ferns was undertaken in 1990 by the Leeds Naturalists Club and Scientific Association. 235 species were recorded including four species of orchid, three near the obelisk and the other at the edge of the woodland ridess. Wild columbine was found near the Gothic Temple, and squinancywort on the bowling green. The latter is known at only one other site in the area. An entomological survey was also undertaken and a wide variety of insects were recorded, including eight species of butterflies (Appendix ). The pleasure grounds of Bramham Park have long been recognised for their importance in the history of English landscape design (see for example James Lees-Milne English Country Houses Baroque 1685-1715. Country Life 1970). However their botanical interest has not been so widely appreciated. This arises from their having received a constancy of management for several hundred years equivalent to that enjoyed by ancient hay meadows or unimproved downland pasture. Not only has this given rise to plant communities which are interesting in their own right, as well as being extremely beautiful, but it also gives us a picture of what the flora was like at the start of the eighteenth century when the gardens were first laid out. In most eighteenth century landscape parks the original ground flora has now been lost and replaced with tedious grass monocultures.