Abbotts Hall Farm

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This coastal farm was bought by Essex Wildlife Trust in 2000 using a legacy from the late Joan Elliot, with support from Trust members, WWF, English Nature, the Environment Agency and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is a demonstration site for sustainable coastal defence and also a working farm rich in wildlife.

Coastal realignment

The Blackwater estuary is among the largest estuaries in East Anglia. One of the main threats to this important wildlife area is 'coastal squeeze' due to sea-level rise. On the Essex coast sea level is rising by around 6mm per year due to the combined effects of global warming and the settling of the land mass in the south-east. The seawalls surrounding most of the Essex coast today were constructed more than 300 years ago to reclaim land from the sea. 'Coastal squeeze' is the result of the sea pinning the saltmarsh against the seawall and causing erosion. In the recent past 40% of Essex saltmarsh has been lost in this way.

The coastal realignment project at Abbotts Hall Farm was designed to recreate lost habitats by allowing salt water back on to the land reclaimed originally. Two new counter walls were constructed at either end of the site to protect neighbouring land but elsewhere the land rises gently, checking the incoming tide without additional sea defenses. This has allowed the creation of 200 acres of mudflat, saltmarsh and coastal grassland.

The seawall was breached in five places in October 2002 and very quickly saltmarsh plants moved in. Other signs of marine life include shore crabs, jellyfish, lugworms and shrimps, and a number of fish species.

New grassland has been created between the developing saltmarsh and the remaining arable fields, and sheep are now back grazing where in past times the Essex coastal grasslands supported large flocks, an important source of wool and meat.

Farming and wildlife

Over much of Essex, wildlife has been finding it more and more difficult to keep a foothold on the modern arable farm. Farmland birds such as skylark, grey partridge and corn bunting have all experienced massive declines. The Trust is aiming to improve the lot of wildlife on the farm while continuing to grow food economically.

For over 30 years the previous cropping regime was dominated by wheat. Now the Trust is growing a wide range of crops, including wild bird seed mixes. Further diversification into saline crops and other niche markets is planned.

Conditions for wildlife have been improved in other ways by planting and coppicing hedges, leaving uncultivated field margins, and creating beetle banks across the centre of fields to encourage predatory insects.

Already results for wildlife are looking good. The skylark population has increased along with many species of breeding bird, including yellowhammers, whitethroats, wagtails and owls. Large numbers of overwintering finches and thrushes feed on the food-rich field margins and in the hedgerows. Water voles breed on the stream and round the lake.

Visitor facilities

The site has a network of surfaced tracks with signposted nature trails, a large freshwater lake with nesting islands and a kingfisher bank, and several ponds.

Two bird hides give good views over the developing coastal habitats, and across the Salcott Channel to RSPB's Old Hall Marshes reserve opposite. Many waders and wildfowl feed on the marsh. Peregrine falcons and marsh harriers often fly through looking for prey, causing bird flocks to take flight in alarm. A third hide overlooks the maturing freshwater lake where you may see water rail, kingfisher and little egret.