There are numerous interesting hydrological features on the historic West Horsley Place estate.

This includes a tiered series of long-abandoned medieval fishponds surrounded by an ancient semi-natural woodland. However, generations of intensive farm management have resulted in a network of ditches that encourage water away from fields and ultimately northwards off the estate. Under increasingly divergent climatic conditions, this creates a feast-or-famine situation, exacerbating the risk of drought and fire in summer and contributing to off-site flooding in winter.

The second phase of a long-term project to address this is now underway at West Horsley Place, which will change how and where water is held across the 400-acre estate. This long-term project aims to ‘slow the flow’ by holding water in key areas, such as marginal unproductive land, without compromising access or existing biodiverse habitat.

The first phase was completed last year, with support from the Surrey Hills National Landscape and funding from Surrey County Council’s Flood & Climate Resilience team. This phase focussed on ‘quick wins’ and addressing issues of immediate concern, including creating seasonal ‘peak flow’ ponds and improving drainage from footpaths.

This summer sees the beginning of the second phase, supported by the same partners. It will include maintenance work on a centuries-old pond in the south-west corner of the estate, to improve water quality at the beginning of our small sub-catchment. However, the most significant element of this second phase will be our work to meander the northern third of a very long, straight ditch. Meandering and adding scrapes to this ditch will slow the flow, provide new wet habitat, and set the ground conditions for future wet woodland creation.

All water management work supports the Trust’s long-term, overall aim of ecosystem resilience. This means that the work will complement other significant and ongoing projects to enhance biodiversity, carbon storage, climate adaptation, and other key aspects of the health of the estate. Such projects include sustainable woodland management, woodland creation, grassland restoration, and the creation of other habitats (e.g. clean water ponds).

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.