Creating a wildlife pond at St George’s Church, Little Thetford
Last week, the NLOW team and volunteers and St George’s Creation Care project dug a small pond for wildlife in the churchyard at St George’s Church, Little Thetford.
As described in our recent article on why we need ponds in our landscape, they are one of the most valuable features you can add to a green space. Ponds increase the amount of wildlife habitat available and act as “stepping stones”, linking fragmented wildlife communities. They support aquatic invertebrates such as dragonflies and mayflies, marginal and aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, small mammals and birds. They are also a great way to connect the community, for example by looking out for wildlife, such as frogspawn and tadpoles, together.
With this in mind, the NLOW team and St George’s Creation Care project were keen to work together on creating this small wildlife pond. Before work could start, however, permission had to be sought. As the pond was to be dug in a churchyard, this involved extra levels of scrutiny, with the final sign-off coming from the Chancellor of the Diocese of Ely!
Below are some photos of the process of creating the pond, which was made to be about 1.5m wide and 30cm deep. Thank you to the volunteers who kindly offered their time and enthusiasm, and to St George’s Creation Care project for their help throughout the process of planning, seeking permission and delivery.
Using a mattock to break up and loosen the soil.
Digging and shovelling away the soil.
Using shears to get rid of stubborn roots!
Checking the depth. Shallow ponds are the best option for wildlife, so we kept the depth to no more than 30cm. We also made sure that the pond banks were gently sloping so that reptiles and amphibians such as grass snakes, frogs and newts can easily access the water, and other wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs can access the water to drink (with easy escape routes added for hedgehogs too!).
Adding the pond underlay, then having a well-deserved rest!
Adding the impermeable pond liner.
Ta-dah! We used some large stones to hold down the pond liner and added a couple of rocks in the pond to provide cover and microhabitats for aquatic species. We added a little water but largely have left the pond to fill with rainwater naturally. St George’s will be able to top the water level up in periods of drought from water butts. Washed gravel will be added and native pond plants will be planted in due course. Grasses and wildflowers will be allowed to grow tall around the pond, eventually creating further wildlife habitat for beetles, pollinators and other insects.
Here is a schematic of the pond from the Freshwater Habitats Trust:
New Life on the Old West is a Heritage Lottery Fund supported project working in Cambridgeshire. The project is creating a series of small-scale habitat improvements – ponds, scrapes, wildflower meadows – in the arable landscape, ditch network and community green spaces. Together, these improvements will create a more resilient landscape in the Cambridgeshire Fens; connecting dispersed species and habitats.
