Holcombe Moor Peatland Restoration Rewets Upland, Manchester 2026

Key Points

• More than 3,000 peat earthworks in the shape of semi-circular bunds, which are referred to as scallop bunds, have been created on Holcombe Moor, found north of Manchester.
• About 1.5 million plugs of sphagnum moss, which retains moisture, have been put into place during the two phases of the project for creating water storage capacity.
• The project integrates bunding, gully blocking, and leaky dams in hillsides to reduce flooding downstream of the River Irwell.
• Groundwater remained at such levels that the upland plateau remained moist even during the summer periods when there were peat fires elsewhere in the region due to drought conditions.
• Collaboration between multiple agencies includes the National Trust, Natural England, Environment Agency, Defra, Ministry of Defence, United Utilities, and tenant commoners.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) August 31, 2026 – Conservationists leading an extensive peatland restoration programme on Holcombe Moor, north of Greater Manchester, have demonstrated how rapid upland rewetting protects vulnerable landscapes and downstream settlements from accelerating climate extremes. As reported by environmental journalist Emily Beament of the Press Association (published in The Standard and The Independent), more than 3,000 “scallop bunds”—crescent-shaped peat embankments several metres wide—have been constructed across hundreds of acres of blanket bog on the National Trust estate to retain rainwater at the moorland summit.

The elevated water table successfully shielded the plateau during prolonged dry spells this summer, keeping deep peat damp while other regional moorlands caught fire. Downstream, network installations of wooden and stone leaky dams across the charity’s adjoining Stubbins Estate above Ramsbottom, Lancashire, slowed deluge runoff into the River Irwell, preventing local flooding during sudden storms.

What Methods Are Conservationists Using to Rewet Degraded Peatlands?

The engineering of the landscape relies on nature-based solutions tailored to high-altitude moorland topography. Peat soils on Holcombe Moor reach depths of up to 4.5 metres, averaging between 2.5 and 3 metres across the plateau. Decades of erosion left deep gullies and bare “weather edges” where rainwater drained off rapidly, drying the peat core.

To counter this drainage, contractors sculpted thousands of semi-circular bunds from native peat, immediately reseeding them with vegetation to guard against wind and rain erosion. These shallow holding pools collect precipitation at the source, allowing moisture to spread evenly over the surrounding plateau. Alongside physical earthworks, restoration crews inserted approximately 1.5 million micro-propagated clumps of water-retaining sphagnum moss across two project stages, creating a living carpet that absorbs and retains massive quantities of moisture.

Who Is Leading the Holcombe Moor Peatland Initiative?

The restoration is managed by the National Trust in collaboration with statutory environmental authorities and regional stakeholders. The project operates with support from Natural England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency, the Ministry of Defence, and water supplier United Utilities.

To overcome historical conflicts over upland land management, the National Trust negotiated agreements with local commoners who hold grazing rights across the moor. Through the government’s Countryside Stewardship scheme, graziers receive financial compensation to reduce livestock numbers on vulnerable sections of the moor, facilitating vegetation recovery and protecting young sphagnum moss.

What Do Project Leaders Say About Wildfire Resilience and Carbon Storage?

Conservation experts stress that restoring moisture levels to upland peat is essential for fire prevention and long-term climate mitigation. As reported by Emily Beament of the Press Association, Nik Taylor, Area Ranger and project supervisor for the National Trust, demonstrated the soil saturation by plunging a walking stick into the surface to reveal water sitting just centimetres below:

“First of all trying to stop the rot, stop the degradation. Then we rewet and plant sphagnum that in time allows us to accumulate peat, that’s a millennial process, but at least it means it’s not deteriorating, so we start to sequester, not lose [carbon].”

Mr Taylor highlighted the direct relationship between water retention and fire mitigation:

“It’s stayed wetter in the areas where we’ve done the scallop bunding on deep peat. It stays wetter for longer, and the groundwater level raises closer to the surface for longer, and that makes the ground more resilient to those deep fires that can get into the peat.”

Addressing landscape aesthetics and biodiversity, Mr Taylor noted that breeding populations of dunlin and curlew have rebounded on the re-wetted ground:

“On a good moor, you’d be sick of insects, you’d be wet most of the time, it would be lumpy and difficult to walk, you wouldn’t know where you’d be putting your feet, it would be bouncy.”

Ben Eardley, Nature Recovery Project Manager at the National Trust, underscored the wider strategic importance of catchment-scale water retention:

“These extreme weather patterns are locked in now, it’s the new normal, so we need to rethink our relationship with rivers in these catchments. With peatland restoration, what you’re doing is trying to restore ecosystem function to a whole habitat, so then you get multiple benefits, during all weather conditions.”

Background of Upland Degradation and Catchment Management

The degradation of Holcombe Moor reflects centuries of industrialisation and land-use pressures across the South Pennines and West Pennine Moors. During the Industrial Revolution, airborne sulphur and heavy metal emissions from industrial centres across Lancashire and Greater Manchester settled on the uplands, wiping out sensitive bryophytes such as sphagnum moss.

The loss of vegetative cover left the underlying peat exposed to severe weather. Subsequent agricultural drainage programmes, intensive sheep grazing, and rotational burning for grouse shooting accelerated erosion, carving gullies that drained the moorland sponge. The Stubbins Estate, which borders Holcombe Moor, was gifted to the National Trust in 1943 by a local mill owner in memory of his son killed in the Second World War. In recent decades, prolonged dry seasons transformed dry peat into a major wildfire hazard, while unbuffered storm deluges poured down the slopes into the River Irwell basin, heightening flood risks for downstream valley towns such as Ramsbottom, uk/local/bury/">Bury, and Salford.

Prediction: How This Development Will Affect Downstream Communities and Land Managers

The successful implementation of scallop bunds on Holcombe Moor establishes an operational model that will influence flood protection, land valuation, and upland policy across the United Kingdom.

• Downstream Urban and Valley Residents: Homeowners and businesses in Ramsbottom, Bury, and North Manchester will benefit from decreased peak river flow during intense storm downpours, reducing the risk of flash flooding and easing pressure on municipal drainage infrastructure.
• Upland Commoners and Agricultural Tenants: Grazing farmers will transition toward payment-for-ecosystem-services models, securing stable income through environmental land management schemes while adapting their livestock rotation to re-wetted terrains.
• Emergency Services and Park Authorities: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and regional ranger teams will see lower frequencies of deep subterranean peat fires, cutting the financial and logistical costs associated with deploying resources to moorland blazes.
• National Peat Policy: Catchment partnerships across the UK will replicate scallop bunding alongside traditional gully dams, using the Holcombe Moor evidence base to deploy nature-based infrastructure across wider upland regions.