Brill Village Community Herd - Overview
Brill Common consists of approximately 30 hectares of grassland adjacent to the village of Brill. The Common is much used by villagers and also by visitors from across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire who come to visit the historic windmill and then walk, picnic and fly kites on the Common.
The geology of Brill Common is a complex of Portland Limestone, acidic Lower Greensand and Kimmeridge Clay. There is a history of industrial activity; the Common was heavily quarried for clay until the end of the 19th Century, being returned solely to grazed pasture following the Second Word War.
Grazing on the Common ceased nearly twenty years ago, a story repeated on most other commons in this country, and for sixteen subsequent years lack of management resulted in an overgrowth of scrub, bramble, tree seedlings and rank grass, nearly destroying the precious and increasingly rare unimproved grassland. The thatch of dense cover all but swamped the botanical interest for which the site was previously known
The undulating topography, a result of the clay quarrying, makes the Common unsuitable for mechanical management, so four years ago professional advice was sought which recommended conservation grazing with cattle. An initiative to restore the common was undertaken with a local grazier using a small herd of Dexter cattle to remove some of the overgrowth; this has been successful and the grassland is beginning to return to health and to increase in biodiversity. Dexters, being small and calm, are ideally suited to an area accessed by the public. The cattle are moved around the Common, grazing small areas to conservation principles behind electric fencing; all areas are open to the public and easily accessible through numerous gates. However the work involved was onerous for the grazier and an alternative sustainable solution was required. It was felt that the only viable option was the formation of a village owned herd.
In May 2011 the Brill Village Community Herd Society was formed. This is a formal ‘Society for the benefit of the Community’, a non-profit making society regulated by the FSA. It is the first in the country to use this format to find a solution to deterioration of a common. The society is open to everyone on payment of a membership fee (£5) which includes a nominal £1 share. We currently have more than 350 members, many of whom have made generous donations, with over 40 children. Grazing animals can act as a source of education for children and adults alike and involving children, who will be the promoters of biodiversity in the future, is a key aim of the Society.
The present herd consists of seven Dexters, now owned by the Society’s members; all work associated with maintaining the animals on the Common is undertaken by village volunteers. Thirty volunteer ‘lookers’ check the animals, their water and the fence daily under the guidance of a warden. When it is time to move the herd to a new area of the Common another team of volunteer ‘movers’ takes down the existing fence and gates and re-erects them in the new position in readiness for the herd.
The Society has formally committed to carry out its work according to a five-year plan prepared by an ecologist from the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG).
On our Board, in the role of Herd Manager we have the previous grazier in order to ensure that expert advice is available and that all decisions taken ensure the welfare of the animals.
Summary:
Our objective is to undo the damage done to Brill Common by many years of neglect and restore the wide range of flowers, birds, insects and invertebrates previously present. We will achieve this by sustainable conservation grazing with Dexter cattle, through the medium of a ‘Society for the benefit of the Community’.
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