THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

DEW-POND ON THE NORTH SIDE OF CISSBURY RING

O.S. 1395 0850

Copyright Valerie Martin 2004

Cissbury Ring is set on a chalk promontory of the South Downs and is is characterised by being surrounded by rolling chalk Downs, deep dry valleys and steep scarp slopes with wide views over woodland with glimpses of a shimmering English Channel.

The spectacular Ring has been inhabited by man since earliest times, as shown by its Iron age hill fort built by the local people in 3,000 BC.   Originally, the bank would have had a deep ditch in front and a timber fence on top, creating a formidable stronghold.    The Ring is one of a series of hill forts and with its ditch and ramparts is the second largest in England.  Overlooking 78 miles of coastline, this is an ideal site for
defence.  Archaeologists have found beach pebbles here, presumably hoarded as Iron Age sling shots. The hill was also an Armada beacon site.   There are wide open chalk landscapes, with a variety of wild flowers and butterflies —  a result of sheep and cattle grazing over the centuries.

Sadly, much of our downland was extensively ploughed for food production during the Second World War.  It was during this time that tanks tore up the countryside and destroyed the base of the dew-pond on the north side of Cissbury Ring.  A breach in the ramparts was made during the war to make way for a 100 lb gun which fired at ships out in the Channel.    An anti-aircraft gun was also sited in the hollow beside this breach.

A bygone dew-pond once lay on the north side of Cissbury Ring. Most walkers on the Cissbury area do not recognise this "dip" in the countryside as being the relic of an ancient dew-pond. They pass close by and, if not possessing an old map, do not know what they are missing.

If you ever wondered exactly where the location of the old dew-pond on the northern side of Cissbury Ring was...... the heavy rain at the beginning of March 2007 gives a good indication and no one can possible miss it.

This dew-pond disappeared forever during the Second World War when military tanks ripped it up during their exercises at Cissbury Ring.  A dew-pond will cease to attract the dew if the layer of straw in its construction should get wet, as it then becomes of the same temperature as the surrounding earth.   It ceases to act as a non-conductor of heat. This, practically always occurs if a spring is allowed to flow into the pond or if the layer of clay (technically called the “crust”) is pierced as happened during the war at Cissbury.

Vic Oliver the warden of Cissbury Ring was telling me one morning in August 2004 that he would like to restore the dew-pond on the lower slop of the northern boundary of the Ring — but the rare fairy shrimp has been discovered there and he is not able to.   The once dew-pond still provides a safe haven for the fairy shrimps.   These tiny, extremely rare creatures can lie dormant for decades until the pond fills with water.   If water returns they will hatch out and live until the waters dry up again.  Vulnerable to predators, they cannot survive in permanent ponds.

OWEN ON THE FAIR SHRIMP...   Owen has sent me this info he has found on the little mite..

The fairy shrimp is classified as Vulnerable in the British Red Data Book, fully protected in the UK under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and listed as a Species of Conservation Concern under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, although not a priority species.

The fairy shrimp is a beautiful, translucent crustacean, which lacks a carapace, and is considered to be rather primitive as it has a relatively large number of segments and the legs are not specialised. The body is elongated, and bears 11 pairs of legs fringed with bristles; the head curves downwards, and in males the second pair of antennae are modified 'claspers' for grabbing females during mating. Fairy shrimps swim around on their backs, propelled by the constantly moving legs.

This is the only fairy shrimp in Britain; it has formerly been recorded throughout much of England as far north as York, but has more recently become restricted to Devon, Cornwall, the New Forest, and Cambridgeshire.

This species inhabits temporary pools, ranging from ponds to muddy ruts, and shows a preference for sites that are subject to regular disturbance by vehicles, livestock, or ploughing (livestock also enrich the site with their dung). The fairy shrimp cannot co-exist with fish and has a broad tolerance of varying levels of temperature, oxygen levels and water chemistry.

The fairy shrimp has been found throughout the year, and has even been found in ice-covered water. It feeds on microscopic animals and organic particles, which are either taken from the water with the legs or scraped from the bottom of the pond. It has an extremely fast life-cycle, and fairy shrimp eggs are able to survive when the temporary pond habitat dries out; when they become wet once more they hatch, but some eggs remain dormant so that if conditions quickly deteriorate again, some eggs will survive). Various animals, including ponies, deer and cattle disperse the eggs from pool to pool).

A main threat facing the fairy shrimp is the perception of its habitats as 'unsightly'; temporary pools are often infilled or converted to permanent ponds. Furthermore, water abstraction, causing a lowering of the water table and a loss of suitable habitat has also occurred at some sites. In the early 20th century, the fairy shrimp was known from common land in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, but the decline of traditional grazing on the commons has eliminated suitable habitat through conversion to scrub and woodland.

Several colonies of the fairy shrimp are located within Sites of Special Scientific Interest, however this does not seem to protect this species. Suitable habitats need active management, and cattle trampling and grazing should be encouraged.

Now you know as much as Owen Burnham of Farnborough in Hampshire.
 

Vic Oliver is afraid of disturbing the fairy shrimps in the Cissbury Ring dew-pound... and losing them for good if he goes digging around reconstructing the dew-pond to bring it to its former glory.

Vic Oliver and his merry band of volunteer helpers did a grand job on the north side of Cissbury Ring with the new fencing in August 2004 — there was a slight hiccup when some of the posts grew legs in the night and walked but nothing that couldn't be put right after a trip to buy more.

Continue if you would like to read about The Lychpole Dew-pond.

This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.