Lake work benefits Beccles newts

Great crested newts are amongst the lake's inhabitants

A lake at a Suffolk country estate has been dredged so that it can be turned into a wildlife haven.

It was 1903 when the lake at Sotterley Hall last received serious attention - when a band of Irish workers used horses and carts to de-silt it.

The project near Beccles cost around £50,000, with a grant from Natural England covering 80% of the work.

A team of 14 workers helped remove the 15,000 cubic metres of silt from the water feature.

The lake has been at the heart of one of Suffolk's finest parks for more than a century, but it was in real danger of disappearing before the restoration work began in August 2009.

"A team of about 14 men with diggers and trailers have worked on this project and removed about 15,000 cubic metres of silt which has been deposited on an arable field," said Simon Thompson, estate manager for Sotterley Farms Partnership.

"The Natural England scheme allows us to run the environmental aspects of the estate in complete harmony with our arable farming.

"We are totally committed to conservation and it allows us to do all the environmental things we want to do while still being able to run a viable business."

That means farming around two-thirds of the 3,500 acre estate - a mixture of oil-seed rape, peas for Bird's Eye in Lowestoft, carrots, potatoes and a wood chip and pellet business called Anglia Biofuels.

Historic importance

Natural England says the parkland at Sotterley is considered to be of national importance.

Created in the 18th Century, its mighty pollarded oaks and sweeping landscapes give it the air of a medieval deer park.

Kim Pearce, Simon Thompson and Sotterley's owner Miles Barnes

Oliver Rackham mentions it in The History of the Countryside as one of the great parks of Suffolk alongside Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds.

Although the lake is on a private estate which is owned by Miles Barnes, a footpath running close to it allows walkers to see the restoration work.

Will Fletcher, archaeological officer with Suffolk County Council, said: "It is a lovely feature and a key part of the park's historic landscape.

"When it was created - by damming a small water course - a lot of trouble was clearly taken to shape it and to create islands in it for maximum impact."

With the silt gone, it will once again become an attractive habitat for all sorts of water-loving creatures including the great crested newt.

The restoration of the lake is just part of the estate's ongoing conservation work which is supported by a Higher Level Stewardship agreement with Natural England.

Kim Pearce of Natural England said: "Sotterley Park is a fantastic example of a really well-managed estate, where the scheme is helping to preserve an important part of our landscape as well as carrying out a whole raft of conservation measures."

No pun intended, we're sure!