Blackwater Carr - Sold

Blackwater is packed with biodiversity and perfect for anyone who wants their own private nature reserve and an inexhaustible supply for the woodburner. Right by the River Yare about 2 miles outside the Norwich city boundaries in the parish of Postwick.

Encircled by freshwater dykes, the site comprises two sections. For the last eight years Sallow Carr has been allowed to develop as a wet woodland of alder and sallow, with some hawthorn and ash.    

A larger inner section called Oak Meadow, is dominated by a single fabulous 80-year-old jay-sown oak. Its canopy provides a wonderful camping area that has been used as a hub for wildlife study, forest school activities, creative-writing courses and moth trapping sessions.

Around the oak is a perimeter of goat - and crack - willow thickets, open reedbed mixed with abundant meadowsweet, purple loosestrife, marsh woundwort and hemp agrimony. Then there is  about an acre that has been mown to develop a flower meadow with ragged robin, yellow rattle, lesser meadow-rue, marsh and spear thistles, all of which are fabulous for bumblebees.

So far 600 species of all organisms have been identified including rare moths, wasps and mushrooms. Eight species of warbler breed in and around the site, including grasshopper and Cetti’s Warblers. Woodcock, cuckoo, heron, barn owl and marsh tits are visitors. Water voles and water shrew have both been recorded and in summer there are at least a dozen dragonfly species regularly over the canopy of wild flowers.

Blackwater is noteworthy for its literary and political associations. It belongs to the author and naturalist Mark Cocker and features very prominently in his book Our Place, an account of British nature in the twentieth century. Our Place has been described as 'a sobering and magnificent work' in the Sunday Times and a 'transformative book' by Lord Deben former Secretary of State for the Environment. The present Environment Minister Michael Gove has cited it in recent speeches and was reported in the Independent to be "powerfully persuaded" by its arguments. 

After parking at the picturesque old ferry crossing you cross a dyke and drop down to the wood entrance. Blackwater Carr is made up of 2 enclosures of level partially wooded marshland drained by dykes. The dykes are surrounded by large areas of willow and this creates a high level of privacy for the owner of this woodland. Located in an area of remarkable natural beauty and protected from development by The Broads Authority, it offers owners both accessibility and solitude.

As you enter the first enclosure you cross a plank bridge and the land opens up before you. This area is flat and dominated by a large area of mature willow in the centre . A large poplar wood sits to the north west sheltering the area from weather. It is home to a host of wildlife from flocks of wildfowl to the elusive Chinese water deer.

This bridge crosses a dyke to the second enclosure. This area has been left wild with tall areas of rushes and sedges. A magnificent large oak stands halfway across the enclosure. It looks wonderfully out of place amongst the shorter willow and its boughs offer shade and shelter in the summer. A willow wood covers the bottom end and continues past the boundary to the riverbank of the Yare.

The owner of this land also has the added benefit of shared use of an area of private river bank to the east of the land. This is accessed by the gate from Ferry Lane before you reach Blackwater Wood.

Because this is a special area it is protected as part of The Broads, a National Park. This does give a new owner the satisfaction of knowing that they will be a guardian of part of our national heritage.

There is a covenant click here to read designed to ensure that all can have quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their woodland.