May 2024
Sometimes, building projects can have unexpected advantages. This was the case in 2000 when Churchill Retirement Living wanted to build retirement properties next to Mountfield.
Our story begins in 1786, when William Downe purchased land on the southern slope of Coneygar Hill to the north of Bridport and built himself a fine house there – Downe Hall. He was a Bridport local with fishing interests at West Bay, but was also a London merchant. It is likely that when Downe Hall was built, several trees were planted on the hill behind the house, and these include the famous Lucombe oak, a cross between a turkey oak and a cork oak first propagated by an Exeter nurseryman around 1765. Another splendid tree from the same era is the lime tree on the east side of Mountfield. By 1839 the estate included most of the land from the gardens between Rax Lane and Downe Hall all the way through Victoria Grove to Dodhams Lane. You pass through the pillars marking the southern entrance to the house and estate as you approach the woodland from Mountfield.
Alfred Dammers bought the hall in 1894 and altered and extended the house as well as establishing a new terrace garden and a woodland. The ‘Ice House’ by the current entrance to the wood is actually part of a bridge that carried the road up to the house.
In 1999 that new development (Alfred Lodge) gave the opportunity for the town to acquire much of the estate as part of the Millenium celebrations, and in 2000 West Dorset District Council vested the land to Bridport Millennium Green Trust. Coneygar Hill is now registered with Historic England for its Historic Landscape Importance (Grade 2) and the gardens, meadow and encircling woodland have become an invaluable asset for residents and visitors – human and otherwise!
The meadow and woodland are part of the crucial green patchwork of sites that provide a home for wildlife around Bridport and this is a marvellous place to visit and enjoy. Woodland trees include beech, ash, maple and oak, with occasional hornbeam and lime trees on the eastern side of the hill. The mature pines are the remains of a plantation that once covered a large part of the hill’s west side. More recently, we have planted several hundred native shrubs and trees to improve the area for wildlife. Woodland flowers include ramsons (wild garlic) and bluebells, there are extensive badger setts, and occasionally roe deer are seen. Over 30 bird species have been recorded and small mammals abound in the lightly cattle-grazed grassland, while several butterfly species take advantage of the bramble and other foodplants.
Would you like to be involved? The trust is looking for new trustees to help make sure the land is kept in good heart for future generations. For more information and contact details, visit the website at www.bridportmillenniumgreen.co.uk.
Alan Bowley