Hipton Hill Orchards
This beautiful old orchard was purchased with funding from Severn Waste Services and the Tubney Trust. There are three distinct areas on Hipton – Cherry Piece, Byrds Piece (named after the family who owned the orchards previously) and Top Orchard which have now been fenced into ten separate land parcels. Hipton Hill Orchard was opened as a VLHT reserve by Jonathon Porritt CBE on May 2nd 2008, following a celebration of the purchase with Church Lench First School planting 6 trees.
This 70acre orchard was planted between 1940 and 1950 with plum trees grown as half standards on a 6 yard square grid, typical of traditional plum orchards. Varieties include the early Czar along with Victoria, Purple Pershore, and Yellow Egg with later varieties including Marjories Seedling and Warwickshire Drooper. There are also a few rows of Giant Prune, a variety of plum introduced to the UK by the American botanist and horticulturist Luther Burbank in 1893. A few Cherry Plum trees are present which resulted from the use of this species as a rootstock.
This site is an important landscape feature visible from Greenhill in Evesham, as well as the adjacent Evesham bypass and from the lay-by viewpoint in North Littleton across the valley from Hipton. However the orchard element is vulnerable because of the maturity of the remaining trees. Planting of apples, pears and plums is ongoing to ensure the visual amenity is retained along with its wildlife value. Many of the trees are over mature and so are not good fruit-producers but they have a very high value for biodiversity. Hollow trunks and branches act as nesting sites for several bird species and roosting sites for bats.
Declining farmland birds find refuge here and include Song Thrush, Skylark and Yellowhammer. Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs breed at Hipton and occasionally the strange rattling call of the Grasshopper Warbler is heard. The site attracts Cuckoos every spring looking for nests of songbirds to act as involuntary foster parents for its young. Occasionally Peregrine can be seen scattering the winter flocks of Wood Pigeons. Roe Deer, Fallow Deer and Badgers are known to visit from the surrounding area and Wood Mice leave piles of stored plum stones in tree holes. Field Vole and Common Shrew are known to breed on site.
Grass Snakes are occasionally seen near the barn and along the bridleway, and Slow-worm, Toad and Great Crested Newt have all been found within the orchard.
Declining farmland birds find refuge here and include Song Thrush, Skylark and Yellowhammer. Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs breed at Hipton and occasionally the strange rattling call of the Grasshopper Warbler is heard. The site attracts Cuckoos every spring looking for nests of songbirds to act as involuntary foster parents for its young. Occasionally Peregrine can be seen scattering the winter flocks of Wood Pigeons. Roe Deer, Fallow Deer and Badgers are known to visit from the surrounding area and Wood Mice leave piles of stored plum stones in tree holes. Field Vole and Common Shrew are known to breed on site.
Grass Snakes are occasionally seen near the barn and along the bridleway, and Slow-worm, Toad and Great Crested Newt have all been found within the orchard.
The site has changed greatly over time; being converted from woodland to grassland to intensively managed orchard and now to a wildlife-friendly traditional orchard with sheep grazing.
Because of the history of management at Hipton Hill, the grassland has a mixture of grassland types but with many species missing from traditional hay meadow communities.
One of the most striking and unexpected features of the grassland is the orchids, in 2008, a survey was carried out with the aid of the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust and over 3,000 Greater Butterfly Orchids were counted, with a similar number of Pyramidal Orchids. These were mainly confined to Byrds Piece, but they continue to spread across the whole site. Common Spotted Orchids are also present in large numbers along with a small number of Bee Orchids and single specimens of Twayblade. Cutting the grass and grazing with sheep in late summer is helping to maintain and enhance the floral community. Also grazing some of the areas earlier in the year on a two-year rotation is helping to reduce some of the more vigorous, competitive weed species. These plants include Mellilot which is attractive to bees but can become dominant and also the invasive Wild Parsnip with its toxic sap which can blister the skin. Various ragwort species are present and this group of plants are kept under control by cutting, leaving some for nectar-dependant insects as well as for the yellow and black caterpillars of declining Cinnabar Moths. Another species of plant is the delicate Grass Vetchling which can now be found across the site, but which is very difficult to spot until it’s miniature sweet-pea-like flowers bloom. Meadow Vetchling and Common Vetch are also fairly common across the site. A very local species, Narrow-leaved Bird’s-foot-trefoil is also frequent here along with other plants of calcareous grasslands including Yellow-wort, Centaury and Gromwell. The unusual Adder’s-tongue Fern also grows in patches across the site. Tor-grass is spreading into the grassland and may require some control in future. This tough lime-loving grass is less palatable to grazing stock and can form large, dense stands which choke out finer grasses and wildflowers.
Because of the history of management at Hipton Hill, the grassland has a mixture of grassland types but with many species missing from traditional hay meadow communities.
One of the most striking and unexpected features of the grassland is the orchids, in 2008, a survey was carried out with the aid of the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust and over 3,000 Greater Butterfly Orchids were counted, with a similar number of Pyramidal Orchids. These were mainly confined to Byrds Piece, but they continue to spread across the whole site. Common Spotted Orchids are also present in large numbers along with a small number of Bee Orchids and single specimens of Twayblade. Cutting the grass and grazing with sheep in late summer is helping to maintain and enhance the floral community. Also grazing some of the areas earlier in the year on a two-year rotation is helping to reduce some of the more vigorous, competitive weed species. These plants include Mellilot which is attractive to bees but can become dominant and also the invasive Wild Parsnip with its toxic sap which can blister the skin. Various ragwort species are present and this group of plants are kept under control by cutting, leaving some for nectar-dependant insects as well as for the yellow and black caterpillars of declining Cinnabar Moths. Another species of plant is the delicate Grass Vetchling which can now be found across the site, but which is very difficult to spot until it’s miniature sweet-pea-like flowers bloom. Meadow Vetchling and Common Vetch are also fairly common across the site. A very local species, Narrow-leaved Bird’s-foot-trefoil is also frequent here along with other plants of calcareous grasslands including Yellow-wort, Centaury and Gromwell. The unusual Adder’s-tongue Fern also grows in patches across the site. Tor-grass is spreading into the grassland and may require some control in future. This tough lime-loving grass is less palatable to grazing stock and can form large, dense stands which choke out finer grasses and wildflowers.
Butterflies are numerous at Hipton and include the rare Grizzled Skipper which can seen along the wayleave during May when they bask low to the ground in the short vegetation. Grassland species include Large, Small and Essex Skippers, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and Marbled White. Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell feed at the bramble flowers in summer and take advantage of sugar-rich over ripe fruit in autumn. Brimstones breed on the few Buckthorn plants that grow here and Dark Green Fritillary was noted here several times in 2014. The grassland is also home to many grasshoppers and bush-crickets including Meadow, Field, Lesser Marsh and Common Green Grasshoppers. Despite its name, the latter is a species which has been lost from much of Worcestershire in recent years. Dark, Speckled, Oak and Roesel’s Bush-crickets are also present along with Long-winged Conehead. Lesne’s Earwig has been found here, this rare insect has a stronghold in the Avon valley and favours the wild clematis Traveller’s Joy or Old-man’s-beard in hedgerows. Amongst the pollinators, several bumblebee species have been noted and solitary bees are numerous as well as the bumblebee-mimic Dark-bordered Beefly and various hoverflies.
A few dragonfly species are attracted to Hipton to feed before returning to their watery haunts to breed. Black-tailed Skimmers are occasionally seen along with two river species, White-legged Damselfly and a recent county colonist Scarce Chaser.
Fruit trees are being planted and the ten subdivisions on Hipton are taking shape; a mixture of plum, apple and pear will diversify the crop and extend the life of the orchard. The area that was grubbed up before VLHT purchased the site is being managed as open grassland for its botanical and invertebrate interest. Hedges are encouraged to regenerate around the boundaries and some areas have been fenced off to allow scrub to develop to provide nesting areas for birds.
A few dragonfly species are attracted to Hipton to feed before returning to their watery haunts to breed. Black-tailed Skimmers are occasionally seen along with two river species, White-legged Damselfly and a recent county colonist Scarce Chaser.
Fruit trees are being planted and the ten subdivisions on Hipton are taking shape; a mixture of plum, apple and pear will diversify the crop and extend the life of the orchard. The area that was grubbed up before VLHT purchased the site is being managed as open grassland for its botanical and invertebrate interest. Hedges are encouraged to regenerate around the boundaries and some areas have been fenced off to allow scrub to develop to provide nesting areas for birds.