Heathercombe Woodlands
Heathercombe Woodlands
Introduction to the Plantations
The first plantations at Heathercombe were made in the 1880’s and 1890’s by John Kitson of Torquay. He had previously bought up the farms of North and South Heathercombe, together with other adjacent farms, and built Heatree House where he sometimes resided.
These early plantations in Heathercombe extended over the upper slopes of the valley, leaving only a narrow corridor of fields on the lower western slopes for pasture. The planting was mainly conifer, particularly European Larch, Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar, but also included Horse Chestnut, Sweet Chestnut and Lime alongside the established Oak, Birch, Beech, Sycamore, Ash and Alder.
Areas adjacent to the Burn flowing down from Hameldown were planted in a similar way. The Burn itself was dammed in several places to form ponds and lakes, paths were made and Rhododendrons and Laurels were planted to form what must have been a very attractive series of woodland walks.
Today the early plantations are represented by a number of fine old Beech, Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar Trees.
In the 1940’s the estate was broken up. The lakes silted up and vanished, and the paths disappeared under the Rhododendrons and Laurels. Many trees were felled during the war, and the farmland and remaining woodlands were sold to The Devon & Courtenay Clay Company. The company clear felled almost all of the remaining woodland for mining timber but entered into an agreement with the Forestry Commission to dedicate most of the land at Heathercombe to forestry.
Implementation of the tree-planting scheme agreed with the Commission started in 1949. Over the next 15 years the land that had been clear felled was replanted. About 25 hectares were planted with Japanese Larch (this species being favoured because of its suitability for pit props in the underground clay mines) together with about 5 hectares of Douglas Fir and small areas of Sitka Spruce and Norway Spruce.
In 1965 Claude Pike bought the clay company’s land in Heathercombe. Over the next 14 years he completed the tree planting scheme, predominantly with Sitka Spruce (because of its high growth rate in the very wet conditions at Heathercombe, and for the quality of its timber), and by 1969 a total of 65 hectares had been planted in the valley, including the 25 hectares of Japanese Larch, 20 hectares of Sitka Spruce and 6 hectares of Douglas Fir. In addition, small plantations were made of Norway Spruce, Western Hemlock, Noble Fir, Western Red Cedar and Beech, the latter bringing the area planted with beech or mixed broadleaves up to about 6 hectares.
Rides were made through the plantations to facilitate access to the growing trees, which are thinned about every 10 years to maximise the overall timber yield. For forestry purposes the final crop reaches maturity at about 45 to 50 years – the age that has now been reached by the Larch plantations of the early 1950’s.
The plantations – together with a further 35 hectares at Lower Langdon, Gratnar, Jay’s Grave and Badger Wood – have been managed by Fountain Forestry since 1965 and have been awarded numerous prizes at the Devon County Show for the high rate and quality of timber growth. In 1996 the Newman Perpetual Challenge Trophy was awarded for the best plantation exhibited (the 40-year old Larch in compartment 6c).
In the late 1960’s Claude and Margaret Pike set about restoring the lakes, ponds and paths. They began planting a large number of specimen trees and shrubs in different parts of the valley, and established an arboretum close to Manwood, the house that they rebuilt in 1967.