North Meadow, Cricklade
North Meadow, Cricklade (grid reference SU094946) is a hay meadow near the town of Cricklade, in Wiltshire, England. It is 24.6 hectares in size. It is a traditionally managed lowland hay-meadow, or lammas land, and is grazed in common between 12 August and 12 February each year, and cut for hay no earlier than 1 July. This pattern of land use and management has existed for many centuries and has resulted in the species rich grassland flora and fauna present on the site.
Over 250 species of
History
The meadow is situated between two rivers, the
The meadow was
Flora and fauna
The site includes for many types of grasses, such as red fescue (
The meadow is surrounded by rivers, streams and drainage ditches which add to the biological diversity of the site, with many species of bank-side plant present including for slender tufted-sedge (Carex acuta), marsh arrowgrass (Triglochin palustris), and great water-dock (Rumex hydrolapathum), tubular water-dropwort (Oenanthe fistulosa), marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), marsh foxtail (Alopecurus geniculatus), early marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata), and brown sedge (Carex disticha).[1]
As may be expected for such abundant flora, there is also a rich and diverse insect and reptile fauna present on the site. Typical meadow butterflies include for meadow brown (
The meadow also supports a large variety of birds, including
References
- ^ a b c d e "Natural England citation sheet for the site" (PDF). Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ Natural England
- ^ a b c "Wiltshire heritage webpage". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.