Alan Marham Open University Grounds and Safety Manager
Hear Alan's thoughts on the site



Site History
Foxcombe Hall is built on a ridge of sandstone formerly known as the Cummor Hills. Roman pottery was found 100 yards to the north-east of the hall during the construction of a golf course. Under the enclosure Act of 1745 the site of the present hall, was known as Bores Hall Heath. It was awarded to Yatscombe farm which stood near a former Post Office. The area was once a gorse pasture. The property was sold to the eighth Earl of Berkeley in 1893 who wanted to create a castle style house. During 1904 the grounds were significantly landscaped by Lord Berkeley. Allegedly at this time there were up to fourteen gardeners working at Foxcombe maintaining the grounds and golf course.

Foxcombe Hall then passed through various hands until the winter and spring of 1975-1976 when it was purchased by the Open University.

Topography
The site slopes steeply in a south east and west direction and the terrain is undulating in parts and soft underfoot in places due to extensive rabbit burrows.


Site Character Grid Reference: SP490020
Foxcombe Hall, Oxford consists of 5.7 hectares, 15 acres of formal garden and woodland areas. The site is diverse in character and boasts an Italian garden in the vicinity of the main house situated on a plateau. A man made rocky outcrop is located to the south east of the site below the main gravel drive and in a southerly direction to the lower hillside is a man made lake.
Springs are evident throughout the hillside and run through wooded areas of native mature trees including English Oak Quercus robur, Silver birch Betula pendula andBeech Fagus sylvatica. Even aged semi-mature and early mature sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus has colonised spaces in the tree canopy, this is particularly evident to the south east area of the site. There are mature non native trees located around the site which are indicative to this period of garden, in particular on the hill side nearer the house. These include a group of Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, several specimens of the Atlas cedar Cedrus atlantica, European larch Larix decidua, Corsican pine Pinus nigra, Scots pine Pinus sylvestris and Holm oak Quercus ilex and Japanese maples Acer palmatum. The shrub layer consists of small groups and single specimens of old hazel coppice Corylus avellana located throughout the site, Cherry Laurel Prunus laurocerasus to the south west and large and small patches of Rhododendron ponticum again noted throughout the site. Mature specimens of beautiful flowering rhododendrons of various colours are located on the periphery of the lake and near the house. Other non native shrubs found on site within wooded areas include Barberry Berberis spp, Flowering current Ribes sanguineum, Stagshorn sumac Rhus typhina and small pockets of Bamboo spp in localised wet areas on the hillside in the vicinity of the house.
The ground flora is dominated by the native English bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta to the south & south east of the site. Bracken Pteridium aquilinum is evident throughout the site, as are large swathes of Nettles Urtica dioica. Japanese knotweed Falopia japonica has again been noted and to the south east and west of the site there are several small areas colonised by the Small yellow flowered balsam Impatiens parviflora. Common ragwort Senecio jacobaea is present on site in the vicinity of the house and car park. Dead wood habitat piles are located throughout the woodland and fallen trees have been left to decay and are covered with mosses.



Site Maintenance
The gardens around the house, woodland footpaths, areas of grassland and nettles, and areas around the lake and the rockery are maintained by an external contractor in accordance with the grounds maintenance specification. Mature trees on site are tagged with a specific number and are marked on a site plan to identify the species, condition and location. An appointed consultant carries out regular tree inspections and recommended remedial tree works are carried out. There has been a policy of leaving standing dead wood where there is no danger to visitors and staff and habitat piles for invertebrates where extraction of timber is difficult. Invasive bracken has been controlled using a selective herbicide product called Asulox. Common ragwort has been hand pulled removing vegetation and root system.
Japanese knotweed has been cut down and the hollow stems sprayed with a translocated herbicide called glyphosate.

Site access via steps down the steep slope to the south east of the site have been renewed five years ago.

Current Site Problems
There is very little regeneration of local native tree species due to even aged semi-mature and early mature sycamore which is shading out the under storey and the deep leaf litter has smothered and killed previous ground flora. The birch is displaying signs of decline due to colonisation by the razor - strop fungus Piptoporus betulinus noted on mature trees. Numerous areas of the woodland display fallen Silver birch lying in the under storey. Again the space in the canopy is being colonised by the sycamore a pioneer species which is very efficient at exploiting and adapting to the environment. Potentially due to even age class of certain native woodland trees and poor natural succession it will fall further into decline.

Rhododenron ponticum has not been controlled to date and is gradually spreading around site adapting to various situations and heavy shade, smothering out existing ground flora. Again Japanese knotweed has been noted on site and small yellow flowered balsam and Common ragwort a biennial which is more easily recognised when in flower during the second year. Bracken is continually encroaching onto areas colonised by the English blue bell and other native ground flora.

Site Access
Paths around the grounds are steep and grassy in places, others are slippery or muddy especially after heavy rain. It is important though to try and leave most footpaths in a natural state in keeping with the surrounding environment. Where safety is an issue remedial work to install a more permanent footpath may be necessary.

The Importance of a Management Plan for Foxcombe Hall, Oxford
A management plan is a working document which prevents ad-hoc damaging works taking place on site and ensures the site is assessed in the first instance.

A definitive site description provides a base line to work from and recognises any subsequent changes in the condition of the site. Any changes need to be observed and recorded it is then possible to measure the influence of management and any changes good or bad from natural occurrences, human intervention or other factors.

One of the most important factors we need to consider before managing our site is to identify what the objectives of site management are and state them. In other words why are we managing this site, then we can determine whether the management process is effective.

In the early stages of developing the plan we can resolve any conflicts of interest and priorities.

The planning process is a forum for resolving conflicts of management and allocating priorities to objectives. It is important to identify and describe the management required to achieve the objectives. The process must be identified, even though it may be possible to manage habitats or species without intervention it is still important to monitor habitat as this is an integral part of managing the site. When ever a site or species requires safeguarding some action e.g. management will be necessary.

Any subsequent prescriptions, work programme or list of projects carried out at our site must relate to the objectives of management. If the work does not relate to the objectives then the question must be asked why are we carrying out this activity. The advantage of planning prevents people acting on a whim which may in some circumstances have disastrous consequences.

It is important to identify and define monitoring requirements to measure the effectiveness of management. Any failure to monitor leads to failure of management followed by a failure to safeguard the site and species. All Management plans should identify the need to monitor otherwise it is not a plan.

A management plan will provide us with longterm continuity an evolving document which identifies change whether it be legislative, environmental etc in order to maintain the objectives of the site. It provides direction for existing and newly appointed staff. A management plan can also be used to budget any remedial or annual maintenance works required and bid for additional resources and demonstrate accountability.

The information gathered from our site surveys and investigations at foxcombe Hall grounds will be useful in compiling a future management plan for this site.

October visit to Foxcombe Hall
During mid October we will visit the site again and carry out positive actions. These will include clearing a small stand of sycamore and rhododendron using a chainsaw, hand saws and loppers. Where it is difficult to extract the arisings from the activity we will create and build habitat piles for invertebrates and other species of wildlife.

Ditches in several locations at the site have silted up resulting in areas of woodland being covered with water during down pours as these ditches are unable to cope and overflow. If this continues it may eventually result in trees being subjected to wind-throw or the decline of the crown (stag headed oak) due to anaerobic conditions. We will be clearing out these ditches and unblocking drainage pipes to ensure water from hillside springs follow their original route down to the lake.