The Sanctuary

The privately owned sanctuary contains approximately twenty different species of waterfowl, which primary schools are able to visit. A fox proof fence encloses about four acres, and within this protected environment many species successfully hatch and rear their own young. During the moult (late June until September) a lot of the species have an 'eclipse plumage' when many drakes resemble the ducks.

Within the sanctuary is a collection of old-fashioned shrub roses and many fine specimens of exotic trees, notably the cedar of Lebanon which was probably planted around 1650. Another interesting tree is the Paulownia (or 'foxglove tree') from western China, which after a mild winter has a spectacular display of blue flowers in May.

Of the three ponds, the lower two were excavated in 1964, while the top pond dates back many hundreds of years. At the very top of the Sanctuary is a bore-hole from which water is pumped day and night, and it is this water that feeds all the ponds and eventually drains into the Scrape.