Breckland

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BRECKLAND Some details of the Natural History at West Stow Heath owned by the Town Council of Bury St. Edmunds. by OPEN

HEATH

WHICH

HENRY J .

BOREHAM

ADJOINS THE SEWAGE

FARM.

FT.ORA

The Common Hemp-nettle, Galeopsis tetrahit, agg. Plants with pink and white flowers. Rare, especially on Breckland.

The Hoary Cinquefoil, Potentilla argentea, L. Rare.

The White Horehound. Marrubium vulgare, L. Fast becoming rare.

The Wild Thyme, Thymus serp/yllum, agg. Less common than formerly.

INSECTS HYMENOPTERA.

FOSSORTAL.

SOLITARY WASPS.

The Red-legged Spider Hunting Wasp, Episyron rutipes, Linn.

Rare.

The Leaden Spider Hunting Wasp, Pompilus plumbeus. Fabr.

Rare.

The Sand Tailed Digger Wasp, Cerceris arenaria, Linn. Not common.

The Field Digger Wasp, Mellinus arvensis, Linn. Not common.

The Common Spring Digger Wasp, Oxybelus uniglumis, Linn.

Rare.

The Silver Spring Digger Wasp, Oxybelus argentatus, Curt.

Rare. It was here that this species was first recorded for Suffolk (Boreham, 1952).

The Heath Sand Wasp, Ammophila campestris, Linn. Not common.

ANTS

The Large Velvet Ant, Mutilla europaea, Linn. Rare, two females observed 1950, no males.

The Ruddy Black Ant, Formica rufibarbis, Fab. Rare. On rare occasions, females observed discarding their wings and burrowing into the sand, but no colonies emerged. Only one small colony was found (1951) at the bottom of a Sandbank ; this was situated within the Sewage Farm, which will shortly become redundant, and will be levelled with house refuse from the town's street collections.

102 DIPTERA.

BRECKLAND TWO-WINGED FLIES

Stiletto or Dagger Flies, Thereva annulata, F. Not common.

Stiletto or Dagger Flies, Thereva plebeia, Linn. Not common.

Parasitic Fly, Larvaevora grossa, Linn. Not common.

Muscidae, Heiina lucorum, Fln. Thinly widespread.

LEPIDOPTERA.

BUTTERFLIES

T h e Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, Linn., and var. with blue spots on the edge of hind wings, both less common than formerly, probably due to the fast becoming rare Wild mignonette, Reseda lutea, L., upon whose flowers it used to muster.

MOTHS

The

Fox Moth, Macrothylacia rubi, Linn. Never common hereabouts. It is likely that the fly Larvaevora grossa is a means by which its numbers are controlled. This fly has been recorded as a parasite upon the caterpillars.

T h e Five-spot Burnet, Zygaena trifolii, Esper.

Not common.

COLEOPTERA.

BEETLES

Ladybird. T h e 14 Spot Propylea W-punctata, Linn. Not common. On various lush Vegetation, in swamp and around cottage on bank of River Lark.

HETEROPTERA.

BUGS

T h e potato Capsid Bug, Calocoris norvegicus, Gmelin. Not common. Observed on the Common Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, L. HOMO SAPIENS L.

MAN

Here in the hill which rises above the banks of the River Lark, there are to be found the remains of an Anglo-Saxon settlement.

Some excavations were carried out in the year 1949 or 1950 when two kilns were discovered, together with broken pottery and bones.

When I mentioned this to the late Claude Morley he told me that some people from Cambridge were responsible for the excavations and that he had written to them. He appeared very much annoyed that they had not replied. I was one of two persons who were the last to see the kilns uncovered, as through our employment we had to rebury them, leaving about 12-18" of sand on top, just enough to give them some protection from the weather and wandering vandals.

103

BRECKLAND

HEATH WHICH ADJOINS THE GARDENS OF THE COTTAGES OCCUPIED

BY THE WORKMEN OF THE SEWAGE FARM FLORA

The Ground Pine, Ajuga chamaepitys, L. Never was common, now (1958) seems to have completely disappeared, being overwhelmed by grass.

The Maiden Pink, Dianthus deltoides, L. Never was common anywhere on the Suffolk Brecks and through Forestry it has become very rare indeed, but this now isolated piece of heath has always harboured two of the largest massed patches of this plant that I know.

INSECTS HYMENOPTERA.

FOSSORIAI..

SOLITARY WASPS

The Sand Tailed Digger Wasp, Cerceris arenaria, Linn. Fairly common here.

The Field Digger Wasp, Mellinus arvensh, Linn. Not common here.

LEPIDOPTERA.

BUTTERFLIES

The Green-veined White, Pieris napi, Linn. common ; in others rare窶馬il.

The Orange Tip, Euchloe cardamines, Linn. common ; in others rare窶馬il.

The Ringlet, Aphantopus hyperanthus, Linn. common ; in others rare窶馬il.

The Grayling, Eumenis semele, Linn. In some in others rare窶馬il.

The Brown Argus, Artcia agestis, Schiff. Not

In some years In some years In some years

years common ; common.

MOTHS

The Garden Carpet, Xanthorhoefluctuata, Linn.

The Common Heath, Ematurga atomaria, Linn.

Fairly common.

Fairly common.

REMARKS

In the foregoing notes I have named only a few of the subjects which I have found upon these pieces of Breckland during a period of 20 years 1936-1956, and it is regrettable to see in 1961 the great changes that have come over these former wide open spaces, where once the cry of the Stone Curlews, the harsh cawings of the Carrion Crows, the chattering of the Stone Chats and Wheat-

104

BRECKLAND

ears, together with the song of the Wood Larks were the unforgettable sounds which arose from out of these vast solitudes, giving one a wonderful feeling of being alone, to reflect on one's AngloSaxon forebears who were ever watchful upon the hill listening to these very same sounds. But, alas, they are quickly passing and all will soon be lost for ever.

I have written nothing here about the species of Birds, but my comments on these will shortly be published in a new book on the Birds of SufTolk by Major W. H. Payn, M.B.E., M.B.O.U. I have also been scanty upon the Flora, but I have made a complete list of plänts which will appear in the New County Flora when published. Of the plants and insects mentioned I feel especially concerned about the Maiden Pink and the all too rare Solitary Wasps. I have written about the life history of some of them in our Transactions.

Redundancy of the Sewage Farm is approaching and the Bury St. Edmund's Town Council will then, I suppose, offer the whole for sale. If, as usually happens in these parts, the Forestry Commission acquires it, a few more acres of the original Breckland with its unique natural history will be suffocated to death and become more squares of conifers in whose dark and dismal midst nothing eise can survive.

The Forestry Commission has exterminated the rabbit within its domains, necessarily so if they are to grow young trees, but beyond their bounds the devastating effect of the rabbit disease myxomatosis is shown in the way grasses now grow unhindered, subduing all other Vegetation and exterminäting the already rare plants and insects.

If ever the rabbit is able to breed a race which can resist the dread disease, which I hope it will, it should be protected by all nature lovers. In the 62 years of my life I have never seen nature so unbalanced by the loss of one of its members as it is today.

The havoc wrought in less than ten years will take many many decades to repair.

Finally I would like to draw attention to the possible fate of the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The hill on which it is situated continues through the boundary fence and the belt of conifers to within the Sewage Farm. Much sand has been excavated here for use in the proper working of the farm and bones of Swine, Cattle, Sheep and Goats together with shells of Fresh-water Musseis, fragments of pottery and volcanic lava formerly used in querns for grinding corn have been dug out from depths of one to two feet under the surface. If, as I fear, the hill will eventually be bulldozed to aid the levelling Over the house refuse, I hope something will be done about its future status.