Warneford Meadow

Warneford Meadow is an area of 20 acres (8.1 ha) of natural grassland immediately south-east of the Warneford Hospital, in Headington, east Oxford, England. The Warneford Meadow is a wild space within urban Oxford. The area has been used by local residents as a public space for recreation for over 50 years.^[1]

History

Warneford Meadow was purchased in 1918 by the

Archaeological trenching performed in 2006 suggested a Roman or pre-Roman settlement, or area of pottery production, in the area of the present meadow.^[4]

Geography

Access to the Meadow is gained from either a lane off Hill Top Road, beside the Southfield Park Golf Club, or Roosevelt Drive opposite the 'Little Oxford' housing development (beside the Headington Care Home). The Meadow slopes gradually down from the Hill Top Road end, towards the Boundary Brook, which runs between the Meadow and the Churchill Hospital to the East. Several public paths run across the Meadow. South of the Meadow is the Southfield Park Golf Club and the Meadow is bounded to the west by homes on Hill Top Road. Warneford Meadow also includes an orchard, on the northern border of the Meadow with the Warneford Hospital.

Biodiversity

The Meadow contains species of

badgers are also found in the orchard.^{[citation needed}

]

Development

Development of the Meadow is permitted under the Oxford Local Plan 2001–2016.

Department of Health, revealed that the 'surplus' land at the Warneford Hospital was worth £30,900,000.^[7]^[8]

The plans for development met with substantial opposition from local residents, led by nearby Residents Associations and the action group 'Friends of Warneford Meadow'.^[citation needed]

An application to have the land registered as a Town or Village Green (under section 22 of the Commons Registration Act 1965, amended by section 98 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000).^[9] was launched in December 2006.^[1] The application was successful, and Warneford Meadow was designated as a Town Green in April 2009.^[10] Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust challenged the decision in the High Court;^[11] the action commenced in February 2010. In March 2010 the High Court upheld the original decision to register the meadow as a Town Green.^[12]

Gallery

Boundary Brook and surrounding fields at around the time the Meadow became part of the Warneford Hospital.
Lye Valley near the Meadow during the same time period.
Warneford Hospital map from 1899, the Meadow is just to the south-east of the Hospital.