Sutton Park NNR

B, E and I paid a rare visit to Sutton Park National Nature Reserve yesterday. Sutton Park covers 2400 acres and is located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. As well as being a NNR it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The habitat consists of heathland, woodland, 7 lakes/pools, wetlands and marshes. The lowland heathland, which extends over 465 acres of the park, is a rare and threatened habitat and Sutton Park is the second largest unbroken stretch in Staffs and the West Midlands. It comprises dry and wet heathland areas, bog, mire and acid grassland and has existed on this site since at least Roman times. The park has been grazed at a low level for 100's of years (today ponies and cattle are used) to allow heathland plants to flourish.
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Brief History of the Site

Over 6000 years ago in Neolithic times nomadic people would have hunted and fished in this area and some of their flint tools have been discovered. Bronze Age mounds from 3000 years ago have also been found. In Medieval times King Henry in 1125 gave parts of the forest (which then extended over a huge area) to the Earls of Warwick. In the 1520's Sutton Park as we know it today came into existence and was used for hunting by King Henry VIII.

In 1528 a John Harman (who lived in Sutton Coldfield and later became Bishop of Exeter) persuaded the King to grant a charter placing the admininstration of Sutton Coldfield town in the control of a warden and local people and it also allowed Harman to enclose a section of what was known as The Chase to use as a park for the benefit of local citizens. This charter allowed local residents to hunt and fish and graze their animals there.

Recreational use of the park began in the 19th century when there were 2 horse racing courses in the park (no longer there) and a golf club was built. During World War One huts for soldiers and convalescent camps were built in the park as well as a prisoner of war camp. In World War Two the park was used as a training ground for troops and the Home Guard and an internee camp was built.

Activities in the area today are varied and include wildlife watching, canoeing, cycling, dog walking, fishing, golf, horse riding, orienteering and sailing.

We parked in Streetly Wood and walked onto the Heathland from there.

Ryknild Roman Road crosses the park and according to the information you can make out the bank and ditches

which can just be made out in the two photos below.

As you can see from the photos it was fairly quiet in this area of the park although sadly we saw very few birds - only Wood Pigeons, Carrion Crows and a Great Tit!

We wondered what lay on the other side of the railway line and

went through two gates and under the bridge.

We had entered a much busier part of the park near

Little Bracebridge Pool which was built in the Middle Ages to stock fish. Not a duck in sight but in view of the number of dogs running in and out of the water I was not surprised! Weekends are obviously not the best time to visit. At this stage we beat a hasty retreat and returned to the more peaceful area of heathland and walked back to the car by a different route.

Fungi on birch

The last time I went to Sutton Park was in 2015 and by coincidence I visited the same area of heathland. Some of you who have been reading the blog for years may remember I was given some tiny Emperor Moth Caterpillars in 2014 by the County Moth Recorder which I successfully raised. The adult moths can take between 1 and 5 years to emerge from the pupa (I still hope each year I may get more adults) and in 2015 the first adults emerged. I was hoping to get males and females so I could acquire more eggs but only males emerged and I took them to Sutton Park to release them as it is the nearest location to me that has a wild colony of Emperor Moths.


Spot the moth!

A close up - aren't they beautiful? To be honest I was really sad at the time as I had raised them from when they were so tiny but it was the only way they were going to find a female in the wild and reproduce. Males are attracted to females by the pheromones they emit which can travel for miles. If a female had emerged, before releasing her, I was going to put her in a large cage in the garden in the hope that if we did have a colony of Emperor Moths close by they would assemble in the garden around the cage. But this was not to be.

Photos of Sutton Park taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330. Photos of the Emperor Moths were taken in 2015 with the Olympus e-420 dslr.


Reference: Birmingham City Council website pages on Sutton Park


On Saturday D and I had a day out in Lincolnshire visiting the village of Bottesford and the amazing church there and then Easton Walled Gardens to see the snowdrops. I will do a few posts on our day out later this week when I have sorted out the church photos (there are a lot!).