Roman River Complex and Abberton Reservoir
The Roman River valley lies in North East Essex, south of Colchester and contains one of the densest concentrations of designated sites and land under stewardship agreements in the county.
supporting a variety of threatened habitats and rare species
Essex Wildlife Trust
The valley forms a distinct landscape feature in the surrounding flat countryside and supports a variety of threatened habitats and regionally rare species (beautiful demoiselle, Rhychites auratus beetle) or protected species (otter, dormouse, water vole, eel).
Abberton Reservoir is linked to the Roman River by the Layer Brook and is the largest freshwater body in Essex. It is one of the most important reservoirs in Britain for wintering wildfowl, with a key role as a roost for wildfowl and waders feeding in adjacent estuarine areas. Construction work currently being undertaken by Essex & Suffolk Water will increase the capacity by 60% and significantly improve the ecological value of the reservoir.
This Living Landscape is predominantly rural in character, but being close to Colchester there are significant opportunities to provide links to enable people from these areas to enjoy the habitats and wildlife in the area.
Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane
What's happening?
The vision is to retain the existing character of the Roman River Valley Complex and to link with Abberton Reservoir to create a Living Landscape which is resilient and sustainable, whilst recognising that it is a working countryside where the interests of agriculture and the rights of landowners must be respected. The river needs to be brought up to good ecological status together with improvements to other degraded habitats such as heathland. A five-year biodiversity audit is underway which will provide a direct comparison to similar reports published in 1973 and 1983.
Scheme area: 2000 hectares
Trust reserves within the scheme
Roman River Valley nature reserve, Abberton Reservoir
This scheme is helping species including...
Birds include: gladwell, shoveler, wigeon, coot, teal, pochard, tufted duck, goldeneye, mute swan, pintail, great crested grebe, canada goose, mallard, moorhen, nightingales
Butterflies: small copper, green hairstreak, common blue, gatekeeper and small skipper
Dragonflies: small red-eyed damselfly, beautiful demoiselle
Otter, water vole, eel, brown trout, dormouse
Partners
Natural England, Environment Agency, Ministry of Defence, local landowners, Colchester Natural History Society.
To find out more
Email: admin@essexwt.org.uk | Tel: 01621 862960 | Essex Wildlife Trust
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 Adam Cormack.JPG)