Soil Site Reporter

Soil Associations

0871c HANWORTH



Soil and site characteristics
Deep permeable coarse loamy often stoneless soils affected by groundwater mainly with a peaty or humose surface horizon. Associated peat soils.

Geology
Aeolian drift and peat
Cropping and Land Use
Rough grazing, but cereals, sugar beet, potatoes and horticultural crops with groundwater control.

Component soil series

Subgroup Series name Percentage WRB 2006 link
8.71 HANWORTH 40% Mollic Gleysols
8.31 SUSTEAD 30% Eutric Gleysols
10.24 ADVENTURERS' 30% Drainic Rheic Sapric Histosols
Covers 68 km2 in England and Wales

Soilscapes Classification
23
Loamy and sandy soils with naturally high groundwater and a peaty surface

Alert ! - soils affected by groundwater read the alert

0871c HANWORTH

Detailed Description

The Hanworth association consists of deep non-calcareous coarse loamy and peaty soils with high groundwater, occurring as narrow strips often less than half a kilometre wide, on the floors of flat-bottomed valleys. It is inextensive covering 64 km² north and east of Norwich with a further 5 km² just north of Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. The soils are formed in stoneless aeolian drift and peat which overlie coarser glaciofluvial or terrace deposits. Although the constituent mineral soils contain much silt and individual horizons are silty, the soils are coarse loamy overall. Of the three more or less co-dominant soils, the Hanworth series, typical humic gley soils, is marginally the most extensive. It has a black humose or peaty topsoil resting on a grey or pale brown subsurface horizon. Lower layers are greyish brown or brown and mottled and there is often a sharp change to a coarse stony horizon at 60 to 80 cm depth. Sustead soils, typical cambic gley soils, are similar but with a non-humose topsoil. Adventurers' series, earthy eutro-amorphous peat soils, is the other component soil.

Sustead soils generally occur on the gently sloping valley sides with Adventurers' series in the valley centre on the lowest ground with Hanworth soils in between. In some upper valleys Sustead series is widespread and Adventurers' series is absent or is only a minor constituent occurring as a discontinuous central strip. In the lower parts of valleys Adventurers' soils are the most extensive with Hanworth and Sustead soils forming fringes at the valley sides. In Bedfordshire, Adventurers' soils are absent.


Soil Water Regime

In Norfolk, the soil water regime of the constituent soils is very varied. The land is low-lying and the streams which drain into the Broads, have gentle gradients. Groundwater levels thus depend on water-table control downstream. Where the fall is insufficient, the soils are waterlogged for varying periods in the year (Wetness Classes III to V) and small parcels of the wettest land are mostly woodland or poor unimproved meadowland. Where arterial drainage is effective so that there is sufficient fall, as along part of the Scarrow Beck tributary of the river Bure, farmers accept the risk of occasional flooding and the land is cropped and managed with adjoining higher ground. In Bedfordshire the soils are now mainly well drained (Wetness Class I).

Cropping and Land Use

Being highly water-retentive and easy working they form excellent arable land.

0871c HANWORTH

Distribution Map

Note that the yellow shading represents a buffer to highlight the location of very small areas of the association.

Keys to component soil series

Wales

Typical Landscapes

Eastern Region

All information Copyright, Cranfield University © 2024

Citation: To use information from this web resource in your work, please cite this as follows:
Cranfield University 2024. The Soils Guide. Available: www.landis.org.uk. Cranfield University, UK. Last accessed 29/03/2024




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