Community Orchard
The community orchard in The Byes was established around 2010 as part of the Byes Environmental Education Project (BEE Project). It was developed by the Friends of The Byes (FoTB), a volunteer group dedicated to conserving and enriching the area. This project received support from local councils and a £50,000 lottery grant. Ongoing maintenance and development are driven by these local volunteers to promote wildflower diversity and create natural areas for community enjoyment.
In a conservation context the "Community Orchard" can be categorised as a "recovering" grassland site, meaning it was historically used for agricultural purposes but is now managed more like a hay meadow with herbage cut late in the season and removed, aiding the development of a rich and dense flora.
Community orchards are now uncommon but are recognised as valued ecological habitats and there is a national campaign to identify those that remain and provide them with protection and management. For example, three of the reserves owned by the Wildlife Trust in neighbouring Dorset are community orchards that have given protected status and are managed by local volunteers with guidance from the Trust officers.
The value of traditional orchards lies in their old-growth fruit and nut trees, which, along with associated habitats, can support a large number of plants and animals, including rare and scarce species (1,800 species have been recorded from orchards). Their hollow trunks, rot holes, and split bark are good for fungi, lichens, invertebrates, and birds.
The Sidmouth community orchard serves as both a peaceful retreat and an educational resource, highlighting the importance of biodiversity and community-led conservation. The blossom on the fruit trees provides a fantastic habitat and an important food source for pollinator insects. The fruits themselves are a vital food source for birds and mammals.
Older trees in the orchard have an abundant and diverse array of lichen species and standing dead wood in the fruit trees is beneficial for beetles and other invertebrates. Orchards can play an important role in contributing to a network of habitats, such as wood pasture and hedgerow scrub, offering continuity for species requiring food, stability and shelter. Pollination is, of course, crucial for the fruit trees to bear fruit, and insects are essential for this process so everyone wins!
The community orchard in The Byes features a variety of apple trees, many of which are traditional West Country varieties. The area has been enhanced with the planting of native hedgerow shrubs.
Plants recorded in the Community Orchard include Alexanders, Annual meadow-grass, Ash, Atlantic Ivy, Autumn Hawkbit, Blackthorn, Bramble, Butterfly Bush, Charlock, Cherry-laurel, Cherry-plum, Cleavers, Chives, Field Rose, Garlic Mustard, Greek Sage, Hawthorn, Hazel, Hedge Woundwort, Holly, Horse-chestnut, Ivy, Ivy-leaved Sowbread, Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Lesser Periwinkle, Lesser Stitchwort, Meadowsweet, Norway Maple, Oxeye Daisy, Pignut, Speedwell Gall, Spindle, Sweet Vernal-grass, Sycamore, Tall Fescue, Winter Honeysuckle, and Wood Dock.
Amongst the fungi and lichens are Lumpy Bracket (fungus), Oak Mildew (fungus), Hammered Shield Lichen, Oak moss (lichen), Branched Beard Lichen.
The abundant flora provides for the ‘Batman’ Hoverfly, the ‘Hornet’ Hoverfly and the Bumblebee Blacklet hover fly amongst several species. Brambles provide shelter for bush crickets and food for gatekeeper butterflies and other species of bees, flies and beetles. Red Admiral and comma butterflies are known to feed on bramble fruits.
The orchard in The Byes is easily accessible via footpaths but it is a dog-free area to protect young trees and wildlife. Visitors are welcome to help themselves to fruit from the community orchard.