| Manor Farm | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
 | |
| Type | Nature reserve |
| Location | Byfleet, Surrey |
| OS grid | TQ068600 |
| Area | 25 hectares (62 acres) |
| Managed by | Surrey Wildlife Trust |
Manor Farm is a 25-hectare (62-acre) nature reserve inByfleet,Surrey. It is owned and managed by theSurrey Wildlife Trust.[1]
In the seventeenth century, the area was part of adeer park and in the Second World War the wet meadows next to theRiver Wey were ploughed as part of theDig for Victory campaign. The site was then a market garden until 2006.[1]
The Trust acquired Manor Farm in 2009 and introduced cattle tograze the land to increase biodiversity in the same year.[2] It was officially opened on 29 May 2010 and theWoking News and Mail reported the same month thatskylarks,pied wagtails,linnets androe deer were already visiting the site. An artificialotter holt was constructed by the Wey in the first year of the trust's ownership.[3] Among the species recorded in a 2011 survey of the wet meadows next to the river were: the nationally scarcedotted fan-foot moth (thought to have been absent from Surrey for the previous 14 years);Baryphyma pratense (a money spider not previously recorded in the county); a species ofrove beetle.[4]
At the end of 2010, the trust was awarded £20k in grants by Biffaward and the Veolia Environmental Trust to create new hedgerows and construct a newbird hide.[5] A £1M conservation project, funded byShepperton Studios began in February 2023. The 30-year scheme will provide a habitat for plant species that thrive in low-nutrient soils, including orchids and other wildflowers.[6]
There is access to footpaths only apart from a dog exercise area.
51°19′44″N0°28′05″W / 51.329°N 0.468°W /51.329; -0.468
