Holme Fen

 If you had visited Holme Fen a few hundred years ago, you would have had a view of the largest lake in southern England - Whittlesey Mere. An impressive three miles across, it was a place for ice skating, sailing and home to many species of wildlife found nowhere else. Some of these species, including the large copper butterfly, became extinct when the mere was drained to create farmland in the 1850s.  

Today however, Holme Fen provides a network of pathways across the nature reserve allow you to do your own exploring. The Lost Lake discovery trail is a way-marked walk which starts at the Holme Post. Approximately 1 mile long, the trail loops you through the reserve back to the posts. The woodlands create a perfect environment for many different habitats, including an array of birds on the meres. 

Please note barbecues, fires and camping are not allowed at Holme Fen due to danger of igniting the underlying peat.

After drainage, an area on the Mere's south western shore was still too wet for farming. This became Holme Fen and survives as one of the only fragments of ancient wild fen. There are still small areas of acid grassland and heath as well as small pieces of raised bog. However, drainage of the adjacent areas meant that this National Nature Reserve itself dried out and became the largest Silver Birch woodland in lowland England. One of the aims of the Great Fen restoration project is to prevent further damage to this habitat by ceasing to drain the surrounding land.