Hampton Orchard
This is an old plum orchard on a slight east slope, standing on very wide ridge and furrow and planted on a 5 x 5 yard grid. The varieties of plum present are mainly Yellow Egg and Victoria with occasional Czar, Purple Pershore and Early Prolific with just one Black Prince. New plum trees are being planted to retain the orchard feature as many of the old trees are starting to fall apart. It is important to retain the old trees as they are vital for many invertebrates and alsooffer nesting and resting places for birds and small mammals.
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Some of the old, plum trees within Hampton Orchard are known to be home to the rare Noble Chafer beetle Gnorimus nobilis along with other saproxylic (deadwood) insects including longnorn beetles whose larvae develop in decaying wood and the adults are pollinators of fruit and hedgerow trees. Several butterfly species have been noted in the grassland including Brown Argus, Common Blue and Brimstone as well as Meadow Grasshoppers and two bush-crickets, recent colonists of the county, Roesel’s Bush-cricket and Long-winged Conehead.
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This small site suffers little disturbance and so offers safe refuge for birds. Yellowhammers sing from the trees around the edge while Whitethroat and Dunnock find homes in the hedgerow and Blue and Great Tits nest in tree holes. Also Skylarks rise up from the adjacent fields singing overhead and Swallows and House Martins fly through the orchard catching insects on the wing.
The grass is cut once a year, in late summer allowing flowering plants to set seed and spread. Summer-flowering species present in the grassland include Common Spotted and occasional Bee Orchids as well as Yellow Rattle, Black Knapweed, Grass Vetchling, Hairy St John’s-wort, and Meadow Buttercup with Lady’s Smock and Cowslips being abundant in the spring.
Many of the old trees are now dying and falling down so plum trees including Belle de Louvain, Victoria and Oullin’s Golden Gage have been planted to maintain the orchard as a landscape feature and wildlife haven. A wildlife hedge of native species has also been planted along the south boundary. |
Hampton Orchard is leased by Vale Landscape Heritage Trust under the Evesham Custom, which was brought in to give security of tenure and, where appropriate, compensation to tenants of market garden land. This system of transferring tenant’s rights on leased land is unique to the Vale of Evesham. Under the Custom, the tenant leaving the land has the right to nominate their successor and the new tenant pays the outgoing tenant a premium to cover the costs incurred by them (trees planted or other perennial crops etc.). The landlord is informed of the change, and if they want to take the land back, they would have to pay the outgoing tenant the ingoing charge. It is not known who first used the term "Evesham Custom" but it would seem that it originated within the Borough of Evesham before spreading (possibly about 1880) to Badsey and other neighbouring villages (Ref. Badsey Society).
Ref.
Badsey Society. Available at https://www.badsey.net/past/custom.htm [Accessed 22.10.2020]
Ref.
Badsey Society. Available at https://www.badsey.net/past/custom.htm [Accessed 22.10.2020]