Grazing marsh willow at The Mere, Framlingham

Framlingham Mere is a 12.4ha County Wildlife Site wetland nature reserve. With Framlingham Castle providing the backdrop, The Mere is one of Suffolk’s most recognisable sites, and being so close to the town centre, and opposite the local primary school, it is greatly enjoyed by the local community.

The open water of The Mere attracts good numbers of wildfowl and kingfisher, water vole, otter and many species of dragonfly and damselfly use the dykes and river. The botanically interesting grazing marshes and sedge beds support southern marsh orchid and offer winter feeding for snipe.

The ancient willow pollards are an integral part of the habitat mosaic of cattle grazed marshes, dykes and river. This project will extend their life through specialist tree work to repollard them before the weight of the branches causes them to split irrecoverably, and so safeguard them as part of the grazing marsh landscape into the future.