Aylestone Meadows is an Local Nature Reserve in Leicester,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, United Kingdom. It is owned and managed by

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

. It is Leicester's largest

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

situated on the floodplains of the River Soar and River Biam along with several locks of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

. It has a high

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

value, and has trails that are popular venue with hikers, families on outings, dog walkers and cyclists. A patchwork of flood meadows, woodland and wetlands from the city centre, these habitats host many rare and common flora and fauna. A

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so ...

provides evidence of trade and previous settlement. The area frequently floods, resulting in fertile land and good grazing areas, and so a settlement grew from prehistoric times to become the village of

Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England, southwest of the city centre and to the east of the River Soar. It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city since the Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into ...

. The construction of the Packhorse Bridge from local granite enabled transportation of goods across an area prone to flooding and includes several passing areas.

Geography

Following the Last Glacial Period, the

Bytham River The Bytham River is said to have been one of the great Pleistocene rivers of central and eastern England until it was destroyed by the advancing ice sheets of the Anglian Glaciation around 450,000 years ago. The river is named after Castle Byth ...

was diverted and the former bed became the

Soar Valley The Soar Valley in Leicester- and Nottinghamshire, England is the basin of the River Soar, which rises south of Leicester and flows north through Charnwood before meeting the River Trent at Trent Lock. Soar Valley embraces the large villages ...

. Now

canalised River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and be ...

through the city centre, the area represents the upstream remnant of the flood plain that once stretched to the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

. In July 2019, a landscaping project began in the northern section of the park with the primary aim of restoring the flood-relieving

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

that has been lost over time. The scheme is expected to last through 2020. Neighboring areas include ylestone and Aylestone Park to the east, Westcotes and the city centre to the north and Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields to the west. The

and the former

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

traverse the park along with one public road, Middleton Street/Braunstone Lane East.

References

{{coord, 52.605, -1.160, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:3000, display=title Local Nature Reserves in Leicestershire