The Maidenbrook Country Park
Although purchased by Taunton Deane Borough Council in 2018, Maidenbrook Country Park is the result of a collaborative project between West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine Parish Councils. It fills the need for an outdoor space to support mental wellbeing and an opportunity to connect with nature, a focal point for community events and engagement, whilst also enjoying far-reaching views from the Quantocks to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Wood and Grasslands
Along with its many features, the park also boasts a permanent woodland memorial (established in September 2018) in the form of The Somerset Wood. This green memorial will see a tree planted to commemorate each of the 11,281 Somerset fallen from the First World War and, with a current count of ~3,500 trees (with funding and design assistance from Somerset and Taunton Deane Councils), our ambition is to extend the park area to allow for the planting of the additional trees. This extension will also, it is envisaged, allow for better park access through a foot/cycle path extending north towards Hestercombe Gardens and south to the canal.
Whilst mowing of the grassland areas is periodic, this is done to facilitate their use as a community space for events and to keep access routes clear. Ragwort is, however, removed by hand and taken off-site.
Wildlife
Of equal importance is our park wildlife. As the nearby Hestercombe bat roost enjoys SAC status and an ancillary bat roost can be found in the nearby area, Maidenbrook Country Park is pivotal in providing an ecological niche, offering foraging sites along the Allen’s Brook (thereby effectively joining these two roost sites) as well as alternative foraging opportunities among the trees and shrubs.
The park has been devoid of artificial fertiliser since the inception of The Somerset Wood, allowing for a natural gradual loss of fertility and subsequent opportunity for wildflower introduction to encourage a further range of pollinators and other fauna. Visitors may, if early or late enough, observe deer visiting the park from neighbouring fields. For this reason, many of our trees retain their protective guards or mesh, as young trees can often prove irresistible to a hungry deer, particularly over the winter season.
Our pond, installed in 2022, is slowly settling into a self-sustaining freshwater ecosystem, with swans and ducks often in residence and swallows enjoying the midges as a useful food source. While the beach at one end was created to facilitate the egress of wildlife, we would like to highlight that the pond is not to be used and dogs and children should not be allowed into the water, particularly as the new habitat is in the early stages of establishment
