Farming in Great Haywood, Tixall and Ingestre

Two river valleys merge at Great Haywood, the Trent river
valley and the Sow river valley.  This also means that two river flood plains merge.  Land at Shugborough forms part of the flood plain.  Land in the valley just above the flood levels is fairly flat making it difficult to drain and causes some of the land to be marshland.

Above the Trent Valley to the north of Great Haywood
towards Ingestre, there is a
geological fault line in the sandstone rock beneath the soils.  The soils in the land in the Trent Valley is grade 3 clay loam on a sandstone rock.  The clay subsoils mean the land is not free draining and drainage systems have been developed over the centuries by farmers.

Cross Section of Soil

Clay loam
topsoil

Clay subsoil

Sandstone rock

Cross Section of Soil

The Sow Valley lies to the west of Great Haywood and Cannock Chase lies to the south of the Sow Valley.  To the north west of the Sow Valley, the land is farmed, but is grade 3 land and of poor quality.  It is sandy gravel soil on sandstone rock and this means that the land is free draining with few drainage problems for the farmers.

Sandy gravel

Sandstone rock

Continued on the next page

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