Heigham Holmes
| Heigham Holmes | |
|
National Trust | |
|---|---|
| |
| Grid reference: | TG445194 |
| Location: | 52°43’36"N, 1°37’0"E |
| Information | |
| Website: | Heigham Holmes |
Heigham Holmes are a 500-acre nature reserve within the Norfolk Broads; an oasis of calm and a haven for wildlife – and heaven for wildlife lovers. This is a land which desplays to its best effect Norfolk's wild side, where the sea and the land enter an ambiguity and the sedge and grasses stretch to the .
The reserve is, in effect, an island, being surrounded by the river channels, drainage ditches and wetland areas of the Broads. It is only accessible by an unusual floating swing bridge across the River Thurne from the village of Martham.[1][2]
Contents
Nature
The reserve is owned by the National Trust and is also under supervision by the authority of The Broads Authority. The reserve is only opened to the public for one day a year.[1][2]
The reserve is a unique and internationally important site, with reed-fringed flood banks, open water, grazing marsh, scrub and wet woodland. They are linked by a maze of dykes and pools characteristic of the Norfolk broadland landscape.
The wetland provides a rich envornment for birdlife, frequented by marsh harriers, barn owls, bittern and cranes, and waders such as lapwing and redshank.
Miscellany
It has been suggested that Heigham Holmes was used by the Special Operations Executive as a secret airfield between 1940 to 1944, with Lysander aircraft operating from the airfield to ferry agents to occupied Europe. However, any evidence for the airfield was removed by the end of the Second World War, and the usage cannot be definitively confirmed.[3]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Heigham Holmes) |
- Heigham Holmes – National Trust
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Heigham Holmes Open Day". Broads Authority. 2010-09-19. http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news/events/event-details.html?id=4142. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Search Results". National Trust. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-property-searchresults_2.htm?type=alpha&letter=h. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
- ↑ "Heigham Holmes SOE airfield". Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Norfolk County Council. http://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MNF25538. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
