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Welcome
to Nine Springs - Yeovil Country Park
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Ninesprings
Country Park, Yeovil, Somerset, United Kingdom.
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How
to get there ..... The History ..... The
Restoration .... Photo Gallery
.... Flora and Fauna
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.Acknowledgements and Links
.... Visitors .... Notice
Board .... Search
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Yeovil’s
Nine Springs Country Park, on the south east edge of Yeovil, is reached
by a waterside walk through woods. There are 20 acres of restored
woodland, grottoes, springs and lakes to explore. The Park boasts
huge beeches and shaded paths, with nine springs flowing into an enchanting
lake.
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This
site aims to be both informative and educational. Drawing on the limited
information available, it hopes to show the restoration of a 19th
C parkland and the flora and fauna contained within its boundaries.
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Nine Springs is arguably Yeovil’s premier open-space, to the south of the town centre and major communication routes. Lying between Aldon Park and the town centre, Nine Springs is a north-facing wooded escarpment, and marks a rapid transition from town to open countryside.
The general aspect is north to northwest, over land falling from the head of the southern escarpment to the Dodham Brook corridor, which forms the valley floor. From the highest points of Nine Springs, where there is a break in the tree-cover, there are good views to the north, with particularly good vantage points enabling views over west Yeovil toward the countryside beyond. Within the valley floor, views out are constricted by the southern scarp, and rising ground toward Penn Hill and its intervening buildings.
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©
ninesprings.net 2003 All Rights Reserved
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The character of Nine Springs is primarily that of wooded hillside, opening out in the valley base to grassed areas and water. Woodland is the long-established major characteristic of the park, comprising stands of mixed species that clothe the scarp and Valley Garden. There is a particularly fine line of beech trees adjacent to Aldon House grounds, and mature specimens including veteran trees that are primarily broad-leaved, which can be found throughout the site amongst the wooded areas, and within the ‘meadows’. The meadows cover the lower slope of the escarpment, between woodland and brook, complete with ‘gappy’ hedgerows from the time of tithe map compilation. Water is a major component of Nine Springs, particularly the springs that cascade down the Valley Garden. In addition there is Dodham Brook and two pools in the valley base which bring a welcome expanse of openness in conjunction with the meadows. Relics of the former ‘pleasure garden’ and many of the route-ways relate to the time when the Valley Garden (a spring-fed wooded ‘goyle’ that cuts through the scarp in its swift descent to the valley floor) was in the ownership of Aldon house. Particularly evident is the expanse of cherry laurel within the woodland and valley-garden, honeysuckle hedging, and hazel/cherry groves. Designed landscapes are particularly important to the character of this side of Yeovil. Aldon Park and Nine Springs have provided a rich legacy of specimen trees and avenues. |
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ESSENTIAL INFORMATION Admission: Free Address: Yeovil Country Park,Yeovil. Somerset. Yeovil Town Website: http://www.yeoviltown.com |
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