The Grounds
When we moved to The Old Rectory in 2005, we were determined to make it a nicer place to live not only for ourselves, but also for the local wildlife - sometimes we find this frustrating when they eat our flowers or vegetables, but also it brings our guests and us a great deal of interest and pleasure. So this is what we have done so far:-
The Traditional Orchard
In our first winter at The Old Rectory, we started planting an Orchard in our one acre field. Whilst not perhaps as well known as the West Country as an apple growing area, Norfolk and Suffolk have a long history of making cider or as it is called locally 'cyder', which is made using a mixture of cooking and eating apples. Our orchard consists of over 150 trees grown on MM106 rootstock which means that they will grow to approximetly 12 feet high making them fairly easy to pick. The orchard consists of apple, pear and plum trees – all of the apple varieties originate from Victorian times or earlier and many are local varieties such as St Edmund’s Russet. Lord Stradbroke, Norfolk Beefing and Adams Pearmain. We are growing the trees without the use of chemicals.
It is hoped that the Orchard will in time provide food and a home for wildlife as well as a source of fruit and Cyder for our guests and us.
Bees
The Old Rectory houses 2 bee hives on behalf of The Bungay Community Bees - A project to help the threatened honey bee.The amount of clover, fruit trees and other trees make it an ideal loction for the hives and helps to pollinate our fruit trees.
Bungay Community Bees is a Project which aims to manage hives in as sustainable a manner as possible. Members own ‘shares’ in the bees, hives and harvest, taking part in the beekeeping year. This allows members to support honey bees without being ‘hands on’ – though the group plan is to fund training and hives for up to two new beekeepers each year.
Our Wildlife Pond
In the Winter of 2009, we had a large wildlife pond dug – for once the fact that our soil is heavy clay played in to our hands as instead of the need for a pond liner, we were able to have it “puddled” - clay is the traditional and most eco friendly method of lining ponds. The clay was compacted on the inside of the empty pond to remove all the air spaces and to break down the structure. The pond is some 80 feet from side to side and has deep, shallow and boggy areas which we are planting so that it will provide habitats, cover, food and perches for a wide range of creatures attracted to The Old Rectory.
Hedges & Trees
As well as our orchard we have also planted a large number of Native trees – Oak, Silver Birch, Hazel, Ash, Beech and Hornbeam and Hedging such as Wild Cherry, Wild Pear, Blackthorn, Quickthorn and Field Maple . Much of the hedging has edible berries or fruit to provide the birds with food.
As well as the trees that we have planted we have also inherited some beautiful mature trees – Oak, Yew, Silver Birch and a magnificent 85 foot Horse Chestnut. We have under-planted these with bulbs such as Aconites and Snowdrops.
What might you see during your stay at The Old Rectory?
All of the following are seen quite often at The Old Rectory – A Barn Owl, Muntjac Deer, rabbits (in abundance!),Squirrels, and many birds including Thrushes, Blackbirds, Swallows, 2 types of Woodpecker, Swifts, House Martins, Robins, Treecreepers, Chaffinch, Rooks, Dunnocks, Pheasants and sometimes Stoats.
