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History | Geology & Archaeology | Conservation Site | Flowers | Who lives on Farm | Badgers | The Future
History
This area was once known as Funnel due to a glacial clay deposit forming an aquifer and thus creating a pond of 800 feet on top of the limestone hills. The Mendips have been settled since the Bronze Age and there are four small areas on the site of the Gathering which are ancient mine workings that will be marked on the map that you will receive on arrival. The site itself has a long established history with livestock. In the 15th & 16th centuries the Monks of Witham Friary grazed sheep in this area for wool and mutton much as the current farm owners do today.
In the late 1700's Compton Common was divided by walls and hedges to create increasingly productive estates that includes Fernhill Farm, originally including 360 acres with farm house, bank barn and semi-circle of barns. More recently, Andrew Wear bought the farm in 1997 in a dilapidated state after being severely under-financed from the 1950's. They have since spent time rehabilitating the landscape through farming practices that suit environmental aims, while also offering facilities where others can share our space, learn and enjoy.
Geology & Archaeology
The Mendip Hills are famous for their caves, tunnels and mines. We have some ancient surface quarries to be aware of on this site - these are open cast mines, where Romans and more recently Britons in the 1800's mined for silver, lead and other minerals.
There are also naturally formed 'swallet holes', through which water disappears underground - the opposite of a spring. Calcite crystals form in these limestone passageways, which crisscross the terrain underground. Bronze-age barrows are to be found on this site. These are ancient burial mounds, 10m or so in diameter, dating back to about 3000BC. Flints and arrowheads have also been found in these fields. Ancient peoples have been gathering on this site for around 5000 years.
In 2005 a stone circle was built in the Earth Energies field. Its construction was governed by observations of stone circle construction regarding shape and alignment. If you would like to find out more about which sites the stone circle at Fernhill Farm has been aligned to please check out the Earth Energies & Divinatory Arts (EEDA) page. We have also had the site dowsed and as a result those interested can look at the underground water channels once onsite.
Conservation Site
Fernhill Farm is a working farm which is also a conservation site and registered Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Andrew the farmer is working on a long-term plan to rehabilitate this landscape. Much of this is achieved by reinstating traditional farming practices that are naturally compatible with these ancient Mendip grasslands.
Elsewhere in this area, it has become common practice to adjust the naturally acidic Mendip soil by adding lime, in order to grow higher yield pasture grasses. Because Andrew does not do this, the old, traditional breeds of Somerset grasses and flowers, many of which are now rare, can thrive here again. By grazing the livestock over a larger area, keeping the flock on the move and using each stretch of pasture at its most useful time, the farmer gets excellent pasture from this land without tampering with its natural balance. Indeed much of the surrounding area has been converted to arable land over the years. This dominates the landscape, exhausts the soil, ploughs up the borrows of creatures and leaves little room for indigenous plants to thrive.
The farm grazes ewes and cows freely on this and other local conservation sits, producing quality wool, beef and lamb and running itself sustainably by entirely natural means. By grazing the stock on the land the way it has been done for hundreds of years, the scrub is kept from encroaching and grasses are encouraged to bloom, tiller and spread.
Flowers
The site is bursting with old breeds of wild herbs and flowers. Birdsfoot Trefoil, Common Mouse-ear, Common Sorrel, Red Clover, Bugle, Bush Vetch, Meadow Vetchling and Silverweed are among those native to the site. Probably the most well-known protected species is the Common Spotted Orchid - identifiable by the dark spots on its spear-like leaves, and the points of purplish flower-heads blooming through to early August.
Yellow rattle grows on the west side of the farm other camping fields host Lady's Mantle, a high density of Sweet Vernal Grasses, Red Fescue and Crested Dogstail. There are also some interesting fungi at other times of the year.
Who lives and works at the farm?
Andrew, Jen and their two sons Kyle and Seth live in the office until the house renovation is complete. In the Red house lives Fred Tratt, a family member of the previous Fernhill farmer and our range of caravans allows contract workers, visitors and friends to stay.
DOGS: We have four working dogs.
PIGS: The Trudies are our Kune Kune Sows and they and their piglets live in the orchard during the autumn and graze grass fields in summer. Our saddleback sows and maiden gilts roam around under the jungle / largewood canopy and the boys fatten for meat.
SHEEP: Texel rams sire meat producing lambs, bred with Shetland ewes that are kept for their hardiness and ability to be productive on low quality grassland. The farm has approximately 1000 breeding ewes and lambs and 30 texel rams.
BEEF: The beef herd is based on the Aberdeen Angus breed, building towards 100 cows producing quality calves for breeding and dinner plates.
CHICKENS: Then there were 6 chickens including two pure Light Sussex hens and four Brahma X hens who laid about 4 eggs each day until the crafty fox paid them a visit the other night!
We grow herbage crops as the land is best suited for these species. The natural range of fungus, mosses, grasses, herbs, shrubs and trees within our fields provide food, shelter and a home for various species of mollusks, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and domesticated livestock maintaining a successful ecosystem through the year within the Mendip climate.
Badgers
You will see from the map once you get onsite that there is a woods where the badgers live marked. Some people are camping in their garden. Badgers are nocturnal, hunting at night for earthworms, insects, fruits and berries. Badgers are creatures of habit, living in well-established setts in the ground, and unlike other natural inhabitants who can move further a-field to hunt while we are there, badgers continue to shop locally throughout the event. They will be listening for the quiet spell in the small hours to come out for dinner - it is good to leave them a few hours of drum-free time of a night.
The Future
The farm is working in some of the following ways to encourage wildlife:
* Rebuilding the stone walls without the use of cement to create bug holes.
* Laying of over-grown hedges, new thorns planted and double fenced two meters wide to provide plenty of undisturbed areas.
* Several fields (90 acres) are in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme to prevent any unnatural fertilizers, plant species, grazing habits etc that can disturb natural balances. Protection of these rare plant and grass species unique to this area subsequently attract a diverse range of bugs and birds.
* Badger setts' in Tuckers Wood are welcomed and undisturbed.
* Replanting woodland with traditional mixed broad leaf species (80%) and conifers. Log piles left to decompose maximising habitats.
* Planting additional fruit trees in the orchard.
* We don't spray any chemicals on our land and only required medicine is given to our animals - homeopathic and herbal practices are used primarily and we are still learning!
The farm is not registered as an organic farm but there is nothing inorganic about the way it is run. The volume of paperwork involved in seeking official organic status would be enormous. Outside The Big Green Gathering experience Andrew has finished his semicircle barn for camping and for residential courses in rural skills, such as felt-making, sheep shearing and so on. It is his ambition to develop the farm into a self-sustainable unit with its own source of energy, where people can come to learn rural skills and enjoy the countryside. In the meantime, he is in the process of rebuilding the original old farmhouse, built in 1770, when this part of the hills was first divided up into farming homesteads.
To find out what Andrew and his team are up to at this year's Gathering go to the Food & Farming Area page.
Andy and Jen have also just launched their own website so please take a look http://www.fernhill-farm.co.uk/
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