The Lower Otter Restoration Project (LORP) is a major environmental re-engineering of the mouth of the River Otter. Apart from strengthening sea defences, the project has created 55 hectares of new intertidal habitat for wildlife. The project is not only benefitting wildfowl and wading birds but it is seeing a return of various saltmarsh plants which were recorded by Victorian plant hunters.

In 1849, local doctor W.H. Cullen worked with a group of amateur botanists including Lady Kennaway to publish “Flora Sidostiensis; or a catalogue of the plants indigenous to the vicinity of Sidmouth”. In the last three years, members of the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group have been searching to see how many of the plants can still be found locally. So far, nearly 500 of the 650 listed species have been located and added to the modern records. One group that is missing are saltmarsh plants, the strange, fleshy plants with reduced and often waxy blue leaves that are adapted to tolerate salt water.

Dr Cullen found plenty of beach plants such as Sea Holly in Sidmouth, and there were probably saltmarsh plants on the Ham in previous centuries, but not in his time. He extended his search beyond the valley and recorded several salt tolerant plants such as Sea-side Goosefoot and Glasswort at the mouth of the River Otter where the marshes were more extensive than has been the case in recent years. Drainage of much of the marsh seen by Dr Cullen meant these plants were restricted and even disappeared from the area.

The LORP has involved the deliberate breaching of some of the sea defences to allow salt water to flood the drained pastures at each high tide. Just one year on from the first tidal flooding, the re-established saltmarsh has seen some of Dr Cullen’s plants reappearing and spreading rapidly. It is unclear if there were dormant seeds in the ground waiting for the right conditions or whether they have washed in from the saltmarsh areas of the Exe and Axe.

Some of the plants will have been there all the time, hiding away in the small area of marsh that was difficult to visit. A saltmarsh is a tricky place to live but also rather inaccessible to people. Dr Cullen probably had to struggle across difficult ground to find the plants on his list. The LORP includes well planned pathways and access points and now you can see about a dozen of Dr Cullen’s finds on a gentle walk or from a mobility scooter or wheelchair as you tour the site.

Apart from finding the right habitat, one of the puzzles of tracking down Dr Cullen’s plants has been how many of the plants have acquired different names in the intervening 175 years, common names and scientific names. His Sea-side Goosefoot or Chenopodium maritimum is now listed as Annual Sea-blite or Suaeda maritima, and the common saltmarsh plant Sea Purslane or Halimione portulacoides was known to Dr Cullen as Shrubby Orache or Atriplex portulacoides.

I was lucky enough to become familiar with the extensive saltmarsh areas on the Essex coast when I was younger. I am delighted that LORP is allowing me access to a developing recreation of this fascinating habitat. It is interesting just to walk around the site and seeing nature that you will not see in Sidmouth. To learn even more, you can join the Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust which manages the site for Clinton Devon Estates and runs excellent guided walks. The Devonshire Association will be hosting a talk by Dr Sam Bridgewater who oversaw the project.