National Trust makes plans for Pentire Head

Ecology Partners were excited recently to be let loose over some 225 hectares of wild cliff-top and coastal farmland. We were contracted by Cornwall Environmental Consultants (CEC) on behalf of the National Trust to undertake a botanical survey of part of Pentire Head on the North coast of Cornwall. Situated at the mouth of the Camel Estuary, near Polzeath, this spectacular location supports a range of rare plant species and important habitats and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Owned and managed by the National Trust and commercially farmed until recently the headland will now be managed ‘in-hand’ by the National Trust specifically for conservation and the benefit of wildlife.

The site is notable as one of the only Cornish sites for harebell but also host to rare arable weeds such as the enigmatically named (and hard to spot) weasel-snout. Most unexpected though was our discovery of a new population of clustered clover, a species only recorded from three other sites in Cornwall!

Our survey data (including detailed NVC mapping, quadrat data and accounts of notable plants) will be used as an accurate ‘baseline’ to inform future management of the site and assess future change as the National Trust takes Pentire Head into a new era.