Site Code
Country: United Kingdom
Central coordinates: 52.30000000o [52o 17' 59" North], 0.26666667o [0o 16' 0" East]
Administrative region: East of England (Cambridgeshire)
Area: 254 ha
Altitude: 0 - 5
Site Description
Wicken Fen is conserved as the last remaining undrained peat fen in Cambridgeshire and is classed as one of the best in East Anglia. Wicken Fen has been managed al least since 1414 when the first recorded sedge harvest took place. Since then the fen has been intensively managed with grazing and cutting regimes. Ancient fenland vegetation is supported at this site within the sedge fen community, with carr scrub, wet and dry grassland and dyke habitats also present. The site is Internationally Important for stoneworts.
Botanical Significance
Wicken Fen is one of the last remaining undrained peat fens in Cambridgeshire and is one of the best in East Anglia. It supports extensive fen-meadow and tall-herb fen communities, including saw-sedge beds, as well as fen carr and open water habitats. Management is by a combination of mowing and removal of litter with grazing, mainly by ponies, and large scale scrub clearance. The core site lies within a larger zone of opportunity where fen restoration is being actively pursued as part of the ‘Wicken Vision’. The zone of opportunity includes areas with a similar origin and soil type which are connected by influence of the River Cam. The site supports extensive areas of species-rich vegetation classed as Calcareous fen with Cladium mariscus and species of the Caricion davallianae, including Viola persicifolia, although this violet has not been seen on the site for some time, and species of the Peucedanum-Phragmites tall-herb fen. The open fen vegetation is admixed with large areas of fen carr, with a prominent component of Frangula alnus, but these areas are being reduced as increasing amounts of fen are restored. There is an Internationally Important stonewort flora in the dykes and ditches including Nitella tenuissima, the only recent site for this species in England.
The aquatic alien, Crassula helmsii, was recorded in 2004 near to the visitor centre.
The remainderof the IPA is not noted for its vegetation.
Management guidance notes
None
Notes
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