The Brecks

The loose soils gave rise to sandstorms, a regular occurrence in previous centuries, and belts of twisted Scots Pine were planted as windbreaks to stop the precious topsoil eroding away.

The Brecks is steeped in human history stretching back to the Stone Age. Two thousand years ago the Iceni tribe had their homeland here and it was from here that Boudica led an uprising against the Romans.

The geology of the landscape gave rise to flint deposits: the Brecks was the flint capital of Britain. Flint has been mined here since the Neolithic Period and played a major part in the history of the area. Brandon’s flint knappers were renowned as the best and Brandon became the first choice of the British Army to supply its gunflints, supplying over a million flints a month.

The Brecks once had the largest concentration of rabbits in the country; the dry sandy soil being ideal for burrowing. Introduced by the Normans in the 12th century, rabbits were farmed in ‘warrens’ for their meat and fur. This created vast open heathlands with few or no trees or shrubs.

Today, the Brecks contains the largest lowland forest in the UK and is one of the most important wildlife areas in Britain being home to endangered wildlife such as woodlark and nightjar, 25 species of invertebrates listed as in danger of extinction in Britain, and 10 species of bat who use of the river valley habitats as feeding grounds.

For more information about The Brecks visit https://brecks.org/