Location
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SX 864 700
Know before you go
Dogs
When to visit
Opening times
Open at all timesBest time to visit
All year roundAbout the reserve
The future of Wolborough Fen is at risk
Wolborough Fen, one of Devon's most important wetlands and a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve is under threat due to construction of a nearby development.
Devon Wildlife Trust and the Wolborough Residents’ Association strongly believe, that this nationally important site, and Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve, will be irreversibly damaged by this development if it is constructed in the proposed manner.
Support the fight for Wolborough Fen here
About the Reserve
A short walk from Newton Abbot town centre takes you to Wolborough Fen, a special urban oasis for wildlife nestled among the parkland and informal green space of Decoy Country Park.
A circular path leads around a wet woodland of willow, birch, oak and ash, edged with thicker cover or bramble and bracken. Amongst the trees and scrub, look out for over 30 species of bird, foraging for insects and seeds.
Wolborough Fen is one of the finest remaining valley fens in south-west England. It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its rare wetland habitats and wildlife, including plants and plant communities rarely found elsewhere in Devon.
The conditions that exist here have taken thousands of years to create – supporting a richness of nature including regionally and nationally important plants and plant communities, such as Marsh Fern, Sphagnum mosses, and a population of fragrant Bog-myrtle which spans most of the Fen. The Fen is the last remaining site in Devon for Saw-sedge, also known as Great Fen Sedge, a species that is very scarce in most of England and more at home in East Anglia. These special wetland habitats in turn supports an abundance of insects, birds and other wildlife.
Habitat
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Environmental designation
The paths at Wolborough Fen get you close to some amazing water-loving wildlife, like this emperor dragonfly
Reserve central
At the centre of the reserve is a wet fen formed by a raised dome of peat nearly 3m thick, which has gradually built up over 2,600 years. Around this the watery landscape is completed by a range of ditches, pools, springs and streams. Together these support a good range of wetland animals and plants including dragonflies and wildflowers.
The delicate fen is sensitive to trampling, so there is no open access to the heart of the reserve, but from the paths you can see water mint and the pinky sprays of hemp agrimony; some 176 plant species have been recorded here. Common reed and greater tussock sedge, and stands of rare saw sedge, at its only site in Devon, sway above a rich variety of ferns, liverworts and sphagnum moss.
Something wildly different
Surrounding the fen is wet woodland which provides a home to rare fungi, hoverflies and craneflies. Frogs, toads and newts thrive in these conditions, while the reserve is also home to 25 butterfly species and more than 80 species of moth.
Wolborough Fen offers something wildly different, tucked away only a short distance from one of Devon's busiest towns.
Common lizard. Photo, Neil Bygrave
Black cap. Photo, Neil Bygrave
Marsh marigold. Photo, David Kilbey
Common lizard. Photo, Neil Bygrave
Common toad