CHURCH STILE

NETHER WASDALE

THE FARM

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

VISITORS

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

Nether Wasdale common is heather fell. There are 30 acres of natural woodland at Church Stile.

SOIL TYPE(S)

Acid loam at Church Stile. Thin rocky and peaty soils on the fell.

GEOLOGY

Granite and sandstone.

FAUNA

The woodland management includes the creation of “bug hotels” and the Knights have put up 70 combination bird and bat boxes of carrying sizes to appeal to a range of birds. Of the less common birds seen on the farm are green woodpeckers, speckled woodpeckers and nuthatches. Raptors include red kites and buzzards. Areas of nettles around the campsite are left for butterflies.

There are red squirrels on the farm but greys have recently been seen and there is concern about their future.

FLORA

Heather fell on Nether Wasdale common. Greendale Mires has a range of wetland plants including bog myrtle.

The farm woodland is carefully managed and the farm has been awarded the David Bellamy Gold Award for Holiday Parks demonstrating its high environmentally sensitivity.

ARCHAEOLOGY

There are no archaeological sites on the farm but nearby Cinderdale Beck is named after the cinders that were left from iron ore workings.

HEDGEROWS

There are few hedgerows at Church Stile although 450 hawthorns have been planted as a hedge on the campsite. All the boundaries at Low Broadleys are hedges.

DRY STONE WALLS

There is a high density of stone walls at Church Stile with walling work undertaken by Alan Knight. He estimates management takes around 5 days per year.

VERNACULAR BUILDINGS & FEATURES

Kirk Style

The core of the farmhouse is thought to date from the 16th century but has been extended over many years and is effectively in two sections. The original farmhouse timbers may have come from shipwrecks off the Cumbrian coast and a beam in the original kitchen appeared to have been from a ship.

Part of the farm steading was the original village hall for Nether Wasdale built in the early 1900s by Mr Musgrave. Following criticism of the siting of the hall he refused to let it be used by the village and it became part of the farm house. It was however used for threshing dinners, May Festival Dances, Hunt Balls family parties.