Ellingham Carriers on the Somerley Estate

Somerley Estate owns some of the most diverse floodplain habitats in Wessex and this highly diverse floodplain is home to some of the rarest wader bird populations in the Avon Valley. At the heart of this landscape are several kilometres of functional water carriers which were historically installed to control water levels in the water meadow system. This project aims to reinstate and restore 1.75km of carrier system to continue the functional carrier system found directly upstream. The historic system, now in disrepair, has the potential to support and maintain the declining populations of SAC features amongst fish species and have a marked wider impact on diversity, support wader birds, designated mammals such as otters and fish alike.