High House Waste is the largest land holding owned by the DPA and it requires year round work to care for the special species and important archaeology on site. Thirteen volunteers joined us for our most recent workday, including Cornwood locals and two brand new faces. The team was also joined by our Ecologist, Albert Knott, and our Artist in Residence, Erica Luke.

The focus of this workday was tackling bracken regrowth and pushing back gorse encroachment in the mire, following recommendations made as part of our refreshed Land Management plan for the site. On previous workdays, bracken had been cut from around the Medieval Farmstead, but regrowth was significant in just a few weeks. The most effective way to diminish the vigour of bracken is to cut it two or three times during peak growing season, which causes the plants to use up their underground food stores before going into winter. Paths were also widened from the farmstead to the Hollow Way, allowing visitors to explore the rich history of the site with more ease. As well as benefitting people, opening up space allows for more effective grazing by cows, the trampling and browsing action of which supports a healthy habitat mosaic.

During the spring, many hours of work was put into opening up the main path between the Oliver Sayer and Matt Collins gates, and volunteers returned to define this route further by cutting back encroaching gorse. Oliver Sayer was one of the twin sons of Lady Sylvia Sayer, and he shared his mother’s passion for defending Dartmoor. Matthew Collins was the son of one of our longest serving and most dedicated volunteers and a Major in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. The path has now been made wider and more inviting, although there is still much work to be done during autumn and winter workdays.

Artist Erica Luke said: ‘I’m halfway through my visits joining the Dartmoor Preservation Association on their conservation volunteer sessions. This time at High House Waste, we focused on cutting back the gorse bushes, clearing and widening access routes for both humans and cows. Allowing access for cows to graze is important as it maintains diverse open habitats.

‘Albert, the ecologist for DPA, showed me how to identify European gorse and Western gorse, and let me know that the tiny popping sounds I was hearing was actually the gorse seed pods drying in the heat and splitting open. We spotted an emperor dragonfly flying over the stream by the entrance to the landholding, and clouded yellow butterflies, which are a migrant species from the continent. Spending time alongside the volunteers has given me a real appreciation of the physical work involved in caring for these places. The post-session trip to the pub was very well earnt!’

European gorse is a densely spiny member of the pea family, forming impenetrable thickets, with a preference for acidic and chalky soils. The spines are between 1cm to 3cm long and the large, bright yellow flowers give off the smell of coconut, which can be very strong on hot days. Western gorse doesn’t grow as tall as European gorse, reaching 1.75m rather than 2-3m high, and can be found on old pasture and heath. The flowers are also a darker yellow, but the most simple distinction is that European gorse flowers between January and June, and Western gorse flowers between July and November.

As well as clearing the mire and farmstead, volunteers also removed reeds and gorse from the corn ditch. This is a historic landscape feature which originates from the time when Dartmoor was a royal hunting ground and King’s deer needed to be kept off cultivated land. Stone faced walls with an outer ditch were built to separate fields from the open moor, with the wall and ditch deterring wild animals from getting into the crops. A gentle slope on the inner side of the corn ditch allowed any animals which did trespass to easily make their way back out.

Workdays at High House Waste continue throughout the autumn and winter and new volunteers are always warmly welcomed to join our friendly team. Find a full list of upcoming opportunities on our website.

Images: Erica Luke