PLEASE NOTE that access to the reserve is limited to permit holders or escorted tours because of the dangerous nature of the floating raft. However, the suggested route along public footpaths through the surrounding meadows provides views of this spectacular site.
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Like other mosses Wybunbury Moss evolved following the last Ice Age when movement of the ice left random hollows all over the land it covered. Over time, some of these hollows filled with water to form meres (large lakes) whilst others filled with peat to form mosses.
However, there is something a little bit special about the schwingmoor that is Wybunbury Moss. A schwingmoor (German for swinging bog, which describes the movement of this type of moss) is a raft of peat which floats on top of an underground lake. They are more common in Northern Europe, however Wybunbury Moss is one of just 3 examples of these floating bogs in the UK.
In places the raft of peat is just 1 metre thick floating on a lake 13 metres deep. The raft is covered in Sphagnum moss, cotton sedge, cranberry bog rosemary and the insect-eating sundew.
The combination of the peat moss, a reedswamp, woodland and meadows has lead to the formation of a unique habitat for many types of plants and wildlife, including the Linyphiid Spider (which was first discovered in Britain at Wybunbury Moss in 1962 and is now considered endangered) and the 10 spotted pot beetle which proliferates at Wybunbury in a single bush!.
The site is now managed by English Nature. You can also find out a little more about the site and view some photos here (or download the English Nature leaflet on the site here.
The suggested route also takes in Wybunbury Tower or 'The Hanging Steeple of Wimberie". This 15th century church tower, was saved from demolition in the 1980's by a dedicated group of villagers. The ancient monument suffered from a lean, thought to be a result of the unstable ground that it was built on (at Wybunbury Moss). The steeple now stands straight again under the watchful eye of the Wybunbury Tower Preservation trust.
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At GZ there is an information board, one of many around the public footpaths. You will need to use the board as well as the EC info given above, and your own knowledge of what you can see here.
In order to log this cache please send answers to the following questions to the owner by email or a message:
1. What type of rock caused the subsidence allowing the formation of the underground lake on which the raft of peat floats?
2. How many years ago did the subsidence of these rocks occur, allowing the lake to form?
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YOU ONLY NEED TO VISIT THE GIVEN CO ORDINATES TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS, HOWEVER HERE IS A ROUTE YOU CAN TAKE FOR A FAIRLY SHORT CIRCULAR WALK:
1. (N 53 02.717 W 2 26.933) Leave the car park, turn right in front of the pub and walk up the main street.
2. At Kiln Lane turn right and walk down the drive.
3. At the stile in the hedge cross, turn left and walk along the field edge.
4. Cross the style and continue in the same irection.
5. Cross the next stile and enter the grounds of a large house. Keep straight ahead, aiming for the round flowerbed on the far side of the drive.
6. Walk round the circular bed; the path is on the far side.
7. At the next junction of paths turn right to walk around The Moss.
8. At the next junction (2 gates with a house behind) take the left-hand gate and continue on the path.
9. Join the road and continue ahead.
10. As the road turns left keep straight ahead into the grassy lane.
11. Cross the stile and continue along the defined path which follows the field edge.
12. As the path turns to the right, follow it through the gate.
13. Follow the path to the next stile, cross it and turn right along the field edge.
14. Cross the stile and follow the path, now heading fo the church tower.
15. Follow the track leading up to a gate in the wall of the churchyard.
16. Walk through the graveyard and through the next gate at the foot of the tower. From here you can have a look around the tower before returning to the car park to the right of the graveyard.