page_title: Redgrave and Lopham Fens
section_title: 1959-1991
hierarchical_section_title: Redgrave and Lopham Fens / History / 1959-1991
caption_attribution_description: English: February walking path, Redgrave Fen, Suffolk, UK
context_page_description: Redgrave and Lopham Fens is a 127 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Thelnetham in Suffolk and Diss in Norfolk. It is a National Nature Reserve, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
  It is the largest remaining area of river valley fen in England and consists of a number of different fen types, including saw-sedge beds, as well as having areas of open water, heathland, scrub and woodland. It is also one of only three sites in the UK where the fen raft spider Dolomedes plantarius is known to be found.
context_section_description: In 1959 a borehole was drilled at the Fen to provide drinking water for the local population, with a capacity to take 3,600m³ of water every day from the underlying aquifer. This diverted water from the springs that fed the fen and the water table began to fall. This led to a change in the Fen’s hydrology in the early 1960s as it went from a year-round water supply to alternating summer drought and winter floods. With a net loss of water this caused the fen to begin to dry out. 
  The loss of water and lack of management led to the degradation of the fen, and scrub began to invade large areas. In 1961 the Suffolk Wildlife Trust gained control of the site but insufficient resources meant the large scale work they wished to carry out to return it to its previous state could not be achieved; the condition of the overall Fen continued to decline.
caption: The Waveney Trail. A raised footpath that separates areas of fenland within the reserve.
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