About Falmer Pond
Falmer Pond is a tranquil, rural, village pond set in the rolling hills of the South Downs. It's the city’s only naturally occurring small lake.
It's located on a relatively small area of water-retaining clay/sand/gravel substrate (known as the Lambeth Beds) that, in turn, sits on a vast area of porous chalk.
Records of the pond date back almost 1,000 years to the time of the Domesday Book, when the village of Falmer was named after its Fal-mere, or brown water.
The pond receives all its water from direct rainfall or surface runoff. It has historically suffered from low water levels during periods of drought, which has had a negative impact on the introduced fish population.
The pond is owned and managed by Brighton & Hove City Council; however, the site sits within the:
- Falmer Conservation Area
- Falmer Parish Council (FPC)
- Lewes District Council (LDC)
- East Sussex County Council (ESCC)
- South Downs National Park Planning Authority (SDNPA)
Falmer Pond Restoration Project
The local community, Falmer Parish Council, and the Friends of Falmer Pond have been working closely with the City Parks Ranger and SDNPA Officers to achieve a successful National Lottery Heritage Fund application for the Falmer Pond Restoration Project. They will continue this partnership and work to take the project to fruition and beyond.
Find out more about the Falmer Pond Restoration Project.
Community events
The Site Ranger works with the local community and delivers a range of activities to engage existing audiences and attract new visitors to the site. We hope this will help establish respect for the pond and an understanding of its ecology and the fantastic history of the area.
Bat walks, conservation workdays and community information-sharing days have already taken place.
There are plans for future volunteer training to cover:
- leadership skills
- aquatic ecology
- wildlife recording
Register to attend the next community event
To register interest in attending the next community event, send us an email using the email address below.