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Friends of Norton Common
Nestled in the heart of Letchworth Garden City, Norton Common Nature Reserve is a haven for people and wildlife. Starting life as arable and grazing land many hundreds of years ago, the town of Letchworth was built around it in 1903 by town planners who saw it’s potential as a place where the town’s citizens could connect with nature. Generations since have used this greenspace to walk in, run, cycle and play. Many visit to see the wildlife that is on their doorstep.
Now, more than ever, the Common is alive with wildlife. Orange tip and meadow brown butterflies dance from wildflower to wildflower, birds such as chiff chaffs and blackcaps share their song and mammals like the black squirrel and muntjac deer peek out from behind trees. Pix Brook meanders through the site providing a vitally important source of water and creating rare marshy grassland where dragonflies and the pink spires of orchids can be spotted during summer months.
The Friends of Norton Common (FoNC) are working to preserve this precious habitat for both the people and wildlife of Letchworth. Working in consultation with the Countryside Management Service and North Hertfordshire District Council, we push forward with work, solving issues on the site and holding monthly work parties to carry out conservation tasks.
Please take a moment to look around this website and find out more about this special place. If you would like to get involved with FoNC you are welcome to come to our regular meetings or take part in a habitat conservation work party on the Common (see below for latest detail). Please see our ‘Contact us’ page about how to get in touch.
Finally, if you have not visited the Common for a long time, or have never visited, we hope you will take a few minutes out to take a stroll on the Common and experience it for yourself. This tranquil greenspace is definitely worth the trip.
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