Strawberry Hill

The entrance to Strawberry Hill is at Knotting Green in Bedfordshire between Rushden and Bedford. It is not currently open to the public as a nature reserve, and there is no on-site parking. However it does have public footpaths across it. Large groups of visitors may however be harmful to the site and with the only parking available on roadside verges through the very small village we are keen to restrict visitors to ensure good relations with local residents. 

We are currently developing an access plan for the site so that people can enjoy all this place has to offer without impacting the unique habitat and its abundant wildlife. 

If you are a member of a group and would like to arrange a visit please email strawberryhill@wildlifebcn.org and, if staff resources allow, we will arrange for you to park on site and get a guided tour. 

In the 1980s the Government was trialling subsidy schemes to takes areas out of production, due to surpluses across the EU, and to promote positive environmental management. The owner of Strawberry Hill was able to enter the site as an experimental “habitats scheme”, and in this case the agreement allowed him to receive a subsidy for removing all management from the land. There were other habitats scheme sites in our area, but sadly these have all subsequently gone back into arable farming.  

It is named on the earliest OS map from the start of the C19. Old place names often-referred to some recognisable character so this might have been a place where strawberries grew - probably wild, and not cultivated. However the word 'berry' could also be derived from the Old English beorge - a mound, barrow or hill - so a tautologous name. possibly referring to the small hill, to the south of the site, but also possibly to an old burial mound. Middle English bery means a burrow. So could refer to rabbit burrows. 

Unfortunately the Government rules on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are that only a sample of the best sites have to be designated, rather than all of the most important sites. They have looked at Strawberry Hill in the past – the original reversion of the site from arable to scrub was supported by funding through a government agri-environment scheme – and the site meets the criteria for designation as a SSSI because of the significant numbers and range of breeding birds. They decided not to pursue a designation partly because of the “sample” approach to designation, and partly because designation as a SSSI doesn’t work well for scrub habitats, which are dynamic, with a need for areas to change over time. 

Designation as a SSSI involves identifying what are called “qualifying features”. Land owners and managers are then required to maintain those features. Our understanding is that, when looking at Strawberry Hill, Natural England felt that a designation would be open to challenge as it’s not possible to implement management that will fix the features of the site in any particular condition. The site therefore doesn’t have any formal designation, and no protection as a SSSI. This is one of the key reasons our Trustees felt that we should try to secure the site, as it is effectively unprotected. 

Strawberry Hill will see the protection and monitoring of wildlife across 370 acres of land, which currently has no designation. We will secure the future of the species that have taken hold there in recent years and improve connectivity for nature within its boundaries and beyond.

Strawberry Hill provides some unique conservation research opportunities. It will allow us to analyse the first 25 years of bird communities (thanks to detailed recording by local naturalists) and provide a more comprehensive baseline now, combined with habitat descriptions and measurements of carbon storage and sequestration rates.

Because of its size, different approaches to ecological development could be tested, informing management across our counties and the wider movement.

In the past, the harmony between people and nature was more obvious. We have embarked on a downward spiral of disconnection: as we are increasingly detached we value nature less, and the quality of our natural environment declines. It is vital that we continue to reverse this, both for our own sakes and for nature’s recovery.

Evidence says that if we get one in ten people taking visible action for nature we create a social ‘tipping point’ – a magic moment when a social behaviour moves the masses to do the same. Strawberry Hill will afford us the opportunity to engage with a more diverse range of people in different ways.

Nature doesn’t recognise human boundaries. Government plans and strategies, climate change, pollution and the threats to migratory wildlife all affect nature on a local scale. If we want wildlife to thrive locally we need to engage at every level of society.

Strawberry Hill will reinforce our campaign to ensure that people recognise the need for nature’s recovery. It will also allow us to explore and develop other natural solutions to the climate crisis.