Moss Side Farm 

Mini Mossland Project 

Client: Natural England
Final Value: £22,00
Start Date: Jan 2024
Finish Date: Feb 2024

CCNW Solution

Scope of works – Phase 1

Using the design and guidance provided by Natural England, CCNW prepared the site for bog restoration works. There are overhead power lines on the Eastern side of the phase one plot, so CCNW had to leave a 15m buffer zone to allow safe working distances adjacent to overhead power lines. This followed their health and safety checks and risk assessment before any work was undertaken.

The CCNW conservation team started by carrying out turf stripping and scraping off the night soil to a depth of approximately 30 cm within the dog-designated area. The night soil excavated was used to build up raised banks and a bunded area along the northern and western edges of the mapped area, forming a south-facing habitat bank for reptiles between the existing deep ditch. 

The height and width of the Bund/bank was determined by the excavated materials available. A 5m wide access area will be retained along the ditch to allow vehicles for maintenance purposes. 

Scope of works – Phase 2 – Stepping Scrapes

On the western edge of the works, CCNW excavated and created a series of 5 stepped pools to allow more nutrient-rich water to drain into the ditch north of the plot without impacting the water quality in the remaining peatland. 

The creation of the stepped pools were kept hydrologically separate from the rest of the plot by one of the peat trench bunds. Each of the stepped pools were impounded by 0.5 peat bund. The No. 5 stepping scrapes were excavated to a max depth of 1-1.5m 

There is an area for water retention to be used by the propagation centre, which consists of a deeper pool surrounded by shallower margins to support fen vegetation. 

Scope of works – Phase 3 – Bunding Works

The newly prepared stripped ground would have a mixture of deep trench bunding around the outer edges of the moss land. Approx. 437 Lin m were excavated to a depth of 1.5m. This is an essential part of the bund installation, creating a peat wall below ground by turning over the peat and compacting it in place. 

During the trench digging, CCNW was able to break through any drainage pipes within the new moss land. Carrying out the works will significantly raise the water table level on the site. The deep trenches were then backfilled. This compaction is essential to seal the cracks and stop water leaking out by subsurface flows. Peat bunds were left at 0.5m above ground level and 1.5m wide cell bunding. 

Cell Bunding

The creation of cell bunding was then carried out. All drains, grips, and cracks were blocked and bunded through as part of the cell construction for approximately 1,293 Lin meters, and the cell peat bunds were left 0.5m above ground level and 1m wide. 

The peat for the construction of the bunds was from by the excavation of borrow pits within the cells that after landscaping would form small bog pools or scrapes.