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Congresbury Moor Reserve

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Congresbury Moor Reserve comprises 10 fields plus one other Footmead, which is just outside the historic moor, in the parish of Yatton. The first five fields, purchased between 1999 and 2009 are Ten Acres, New Croft, Meakers, Phippens and Nortons. In early 2026 we added three large fields (Smiths, First, Middle and Far) on the north bank of the Congresbury Yeo and a further two fields (Brittens East and West) which lie between Smiths and the first fields we purchased. This has created a large block of land managed for wildlife.

All are designated as Coastal Floodplain Grazing Marsh but some areas are managed for hay, with New Croft being species rich grassland.

Below you will find an overview of Congresbury Moor Reserve and detailed sections on its individual fields.

Congresbury Moor is the historic name for part of the wetland known as Northmarsh that served Congresbury as common land until Enclosure in 1813 (note: The Enclosure Acts were a series of radical laws in England that allowed the privatisation of common lands and started the agricultural revolution). Situated south and west of the Strawberry Line the Congresbury Moor Reserve now lies within the Biddle Street Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Most of its fields are managed as “rough grassland” with a non-intensive level of cutting and grazing. There are some wetland wildflowers like Fleabane and Cuckoo flower, as well as moorland birds like Snipe and Stonechat and due to the high numbers of small mammals, kestrels and barn owls also breed here. Otters pass through and Roe deer can sometimes be observed from the Strawberry Line, which gives a good view over the Ten Acre field.

Ten Acres was the first of YACWAG’s land purchases in 1999.

A large blind ditch was constructed to provide wetland habitat. This is known as the Wiggly Ditch.

Grid Reference: ST 427645
Size: 4.09 ha (One large field divided into three compartments of approximately equal size.)
Year: October 1999
Purchase Price: £24,900
How Funded:

Heritage Lottery Fund

YANSEC: Wessex Watermark Gold Award

HABITAT CREATION: English Nature

Special Wildlife:

Kestrel, Barn owl, Snipe in winter, Roe deer, Harvest mice.

Pole boxes for kestrels and owls were erected in 2001/2 and replaced in 2011/12

Public Access:

Ten Acres is conveniently situated so barn owls and kestrels feeding on the mammals in the field can be seen from the Strawberry Line. Physical access to Ten Acres is available through open days, or if you would like to visit at another time, e.g. for research purposes, please contact us.

New Croft, the next field to the west of Ten Acres, is a traditional hay meadow, enclosed from the moor in the seventeenth century. (Note: "Croft" means enclosure). It has meadow plants like Pepper saxifrage, Wild carrot and Knapweed. Wide margins are left uncut to allow homes for voles and invertebrates but the centre of the field is cut for hay annually.

Grid Reference: ST 428646
Size: 1.81 ha
Year: October 2000
Purchase Price: £17,500 with another small fields - Meakers
How Funded:

Heritage Lottery Fund

YANSEC: Wessex Watermark

Special Wildlife:

Hay meadow flowers such as Knapweed, Pepper saxifrage, Greater birdsfoot trefoil, Meadowsweet. Insects like 6 Spot burnet moths, Marbled white butterflies.

Public Access:

New Croft is visited in the summer to survey the invertebrates and wild flowers there. If you would be interested in joining a group to look around please get in touch. Otherwise the field is left undisturbed for nature, apart from Open Days.

2 Black Poplar cuttings were planted winter 2001/2002.

Two public traditional hay-cutting events with vintage machinery were held in New Croft July 2002, July 2003.

Meakers is a small field named after a local landowner who sold it to YACWAG along with New Croft.

Grid Reference: ST 428643
Size: 0.98 ha
Year: October 2000
Purchase Price: £17,500 with New Croft
How Funded:

Heritage Lottery Fund

YANSEC: Wessex Watermark

Special Wildlife:

In and near the ditch – Tubular water dropwort, Water mint, Fleabane

Public Access:

If you would be interested in looking around the field or carrying out wildlife surveys, please get in touch. Otherwise, the field is left undisturbed for nature, apart from Open Days.

 

Phippens is the next field to the west of Meakers – a field that YACWAG was keen to purchase to complete a block of land managed for wildlife. It is named after a local Congresbury farmer who sold it to YACWAG.

Grid Reference: ST 428643
Size: 0.63 ha
Year: November 2001
Purchase Price: £5,000
How Funded:

YANSEC

Anonymous donor

In memoriam donation Trevor Riddle

Special Wildlife:

Cuckoo flower in spring, Reed buntings breed in a bramble patch in the field.

Public Access:

If you would be interested in joining a group to look around this field, or to carry out surveys, please get in touch. Otherwise the field is left undisturbed for nature, apart from Open Days.

Pole box erected December 2004.

Footmead is an ancient field of a strange shape in the parish of Yatton next to Gangwall, a former flood defence and causeway. When purchased by YACWAG the field had been very unintensively managed.

Grid Reference: ST 425650
Size: 1 ha
Year: December 2007
Purchase Price: £4,000
How Funded:

YACWAG funds

Special Wildlife:

Footmead is managed by a late hay cut in order to allow plants to set seed and some invertebrates to complete their life cycles. Six-spot burnet moths, Five- spot burnet moths, Common blue butterflies, diverse grasses, wild onions.

Public Access:

The field can be overlooked with binoculars from Gangwall. Access is by appointment, or by joining a workparty or survey group. The field is left undisturbed for wildlife.

The purchase of Nortons completed our land purchases giving a block of land managed for wildlife on Congresbury Moor.

It is a small field that is grazed and otherwise left undisturbed for nature.

Grid Reference: ST 429642
Size: 0.38 ha
Year: November 2009
Purchase Price: £12,000
How Funded:

YANSEC (58.3%) & YACWAG funds

Special Wildlife:

The field has several species of Vetch. An oak tree is on the ditch edge.

Public Access:

This small field can be viewed from the track that forms part of the Strawberry Line (Moor Lane). Physical access is possible through organised work parties, surveys or by contacting YACWAG. Otherwise, the field is left undisturbed for nature.

In 2012 Nortons north ditch was re-dug and willows pollarded. A little owl box was put in the oak tree and pole box erected.

Three fields on Biddle Street SSSI, bounded by the Congresbury Yeo and adjoining YACWAG’s existing landholding, were purchased from Mr Billy Smith in January 2026. The fields are known as Smiths First, Middle and Far. These names are those shown on the plans and deeds for the land.

Biddle Street SSSI was designated in 1994 for its rare wetland wildlife. Starting in 1999, YACWAG has gradually added field after field to form a significant block of land. When the opportunity came along to purchase the three big fields YACWAG jumped at it.

YACWAG had no sooner started the process to buy Smiths land when local farmer Mark Britten rang up Tony Moulin and asked if YACWAG would like to buy his two fields that sat between our existing land and Smiths. The jigsaw was almost complete!

Grid Reference: ST 42648615
Size: 11.15 ha
Year: 2026
Purchase Price:
How Funded:

Bequest and HEP income

Special Wildlife:

Black poplar tree with mistletoe, dragonflies and damselflies.

Plans to improve biodiversity include planting to encourage bats foraging, both a hedge and specimen trees. The grassland will be fenced off from the path to allow grazing away from dogs and may attract ground-nesting birds.

The fields will be grazed by cattle and enhanced for wildlife. It is hoped to increase foraging opportunities for bats, especially Greater Horseshoe Bats, our local speciality, and non-intensive management will encourage small mammals to provide more prey for resident Kestrels and Barn Owls.

Public Access:

There has been a permissive route along the river bank for many years and YACWAG will continue to allow public access. To safeguard grazing livestock and wildlife, a hedge will separate the track from the farmed area. Other plans include wetland features, disabled access, tree planting and a nature trail.

Brittens comprises two fields, also dating from 1820 when Congresbury Moor was drained and sold off to wealthy landowners, removing the commoners’ grazing rights. These fields were purchased by Mark Britten in 1999 from Malcolm Cook. He said to Tony Moulin at the time, ‘Why don’t you and your group buy a field? There is one of the three I don’t want.’

Thus started YACWAG’s appetite for land ownership. The charity was created, grants obtained and it all started there. It seemed ‘right’ that the two fields should in March 2026, 27 years later, be added to YACWAG’s Congresbury Moor Nature Reserve.

Brittens East and Brittens West have not been ploughed, re-seeded or intensively managed in any way. They are already rushy and provide a lot of cover for wildlife. YACWAG will be improving the infrastructure, including the ditches, hoping to introduce better water retention in dry weather and make grazing easier.

 

Grid Reference: SST 426644
Size: 5 ha
Year: 2026
Purchase Price:
How Funded:

HEP income

Special Wildlife:

Tree-lined ditches with old crack willows, oaks and black poplars with mistletoe.

Public Access:

Most of YACWAG’s reserves are very small and overlooked by public footpaths. This has advantages for the local community as they can enjoy wildlife from the paths. It can, however, be detrimental to some wildlife species. Brittens will provide a secluded space for nature, away from it all and rarely disturbed. It will be interesting to see how nature uses it.
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Key Details

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Year:
1999-2026
Hectares:
18.95
Special Wildlife:
Kestrel, Barn owl, Harvest mouse, Four-lined horsefly, Pepper saxifrage

Location

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Congresbury Moor
North Somerset
Bristol