Long Herdon and Grange Meadows
Long Herdon and Grange Meadows are two adjacent hay meadows situated close to Marsh Gibbon in Buckinghamshire. Plantlife acquired Grange Meadow in 1991, while the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is the owner of Long Herdon Meadow.
The Meadows ©Martin Harper/Plantlife
The flat expanse of grassland lies alongside the River Ray and floods regularly in the winter. The flora of the grassland is typical of unimproved hay meadows on seasonally flooded ground.
Species present include Great Burnet, Meadowsweet, Greater Spearwort, Tubular Water-dropwort and Pepper-saxifrage. The meadows are cut for hay each summer, and are then grazed by cattle in the autumn.
May: Ragged-Robin, Cuckooflower, Green-winged Orchid, Meadow Buttercup, Adderstongue
June: Meadow Vetchling, Yellow-rattle, Lady's Bedstraw, Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort, Common Meadow-rue
July: The hay is usually cut around the middle of July, but in the first two weeks of this month you can see late flowering meadow species such as Black Knapweed, Meadowsweet, Pepper-saxifrage, Greater Spearwort, Tubular Water-dropwort and Great Burnet.
It is not just plants that prosper at Long Herdon and Grange. These wet meadows are also noted for their numbers of wintering birds including curlew, redshank and lapwings. A number of butterflies are also present, including marbled white, meadow brown, small heath and small skipper.
Location: Marsh Gibbon, Buckinghamshire. Grid Reference: SP 648 203
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links
Map and directions Click below to see the map and directions for the reserve
Management
Long Herdon and Grange Meadows are managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust on behalf of Plantlife
Further details
For further details contact the Plantlife Office or e-mail joe.costley@ plantlife.org.uk