Sherwood Forest Trust / Kings Clipstone Project - Sites of conservation interest

The Maun  and Vicar Water Valleys in Kings Clipstone represent one of the important local hot spots in terms of conservation. The two valleys are important to Sherwood Forest as the rivers are important wildlife corridors. The map above shows the wide variety of conservation sites of interest, many of which merely require sympathetic management to maintain their conservation value.

The Vicar Water Valley has an important role to play as there is a lot of very interesting forest edge habitat exists along the Vicar Water. With scrub grazing, rough grazing, improved grazing, meadow, scrub, mature broadleaf and coniferous woodland, forest regeneration, orchard, soft fruit, market gardening, dry and wet heath and some arable, the valley has a very important mixture of habitats that makes it very valuable for wildlife. This presents a very important opportunity to set up a local nature reserve. By restoring the Dog & Duck meadow and recreating dry acid grassing land on what was Clipstone Warrens as well as using the 'stewardship scheme' to improve the management of the farmland adjacent to the meadow, this large area of very mixed habitat could be greatly enhanced. This could form the core of a much wider area of heathland, acid grassland and woodland grazing restoration.

The portion of the Maun Valley in Kings Clipstone is important due to the proximity of the northern and southern parts of the forest. A mosaic of different habitats across this section would provide the vital bridge between the two sections of Sherwood.

The section of the Maun Valley stretching up to Mansfield Woodhouse also has very high conservation potential, especially around the Spa Ponds where old and new Oak woodland occurs, wet grassland, wetland and the Beeston Lodge historical site.    

The photo below shows the Dog and Duck meadow with the forest regeneration taking place on the old railway sidings behind.

The farmland bordering the meadow is scrub grazing and meadow.            

A typical case - dry acid grassland in Nottinghamshire has declined by up to  99% since 1930

Typically the forest consisted of a mixture of woodland, dry/wet heath and acid grassland. Dry acid grassland is typical of the range of important habitats that have been lost and need restoring.  A range of specialist, scarce or declining fauna, including bees and wasps, spiders, reptiles and birds rely on the sort of dry acid grassland found on nutrient-poor dry acid soils that occur naturally around Kings Clipstone. Some species are dependent upon habitat mosaics, for instance a mixture of acid grassland, heathland and woodland. 

The reasons for the decline in acid grassland include

• Lack of traditional management such as light grazing and cutting.

• Agricultural intensification by the use of fertilisers, herbicides, liming, ploughing and re-seeding or conversion to arable.

• Loss, fragmentation and disturbance caused by residential and industrial development.

 • Introduction and spread of non-native and other inappropriate plant species.

• The spread of bracken, a frequent component of lowland dry acid grassland, which can reduce habitat diversity.

• Recreational pressure and proximity to urban areas, which may lead to damage and disturbance of the habitat and make grazing impractical.

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