Cock Marsh is an area of marsh land and steep chalk slope covering more than north of

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. It includes a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. It is also the location of a

Round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

where livestock have grazed for hundreds of years. Cock Marsh is owned and managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Description

The chalk grasslands of Cock Marsh are located near the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, north of

. The site has diverse meadow habitats in a small area, with wet

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

grassland,

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

grassland and acidic grassland on clay. It is managed by grazing by horses, cattle and rabbits. There are several ponds and the site is subject to periodic flooding and drying out, which helps to maintain its botanic richness. The marsh is also a locally important birding site. Cyperus_Fuscus_crop

The marshy grasslands and ponds support an abundant and diverse

plant community A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant co ...

. Some of the plants are:

Triglochin palustris ''Triglochin palustris'' or marsh arrowgrass is a species of flowering plant in the arrowgrass family Juncaginaceae. It is found in damp grassland usually on calcareous soils, fens and meadows. The species epithet ''palustris'' is Latin for "of ...

(marsh arrowgrass),

Hottonia palustris ''Hottonia palustris'', also water violet or featherfoil, is an aquatic plant in the family Primulaceae. Description The plant has a stem reaching up to in height. Its basal roots are buried in the underlying mud, while other silvery, shiny r ...

(water violets), Polygonum minus (lesser persicaria),

Hydrocotyle vulgaris ''Hydrocotyle vulgaris'', the marsh pennywort, common pennywort, water naval, money plant, lucky plant or copper coin, is a small creeping aquatic perennial plant native to North Africa, Europe, the Caucasus and parts of the Levant. Description ...

(marsh pennywort),

Oenanthe aquatica ''Oenanthe aquatica'', fine-leaved water-dropwort, is an aquatic flowering plant in the carrot family. It is widely distributed from the Atlantic coast of Europe to central Asia. Description Fine-leaved water-dropwort is a hairless, annual to ...

(water hemlock), and

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

willow scrub.

Cyperus fuscus ''Cyperus fuscus'' is a species of Cyperus, sedge known by the common name brown galingale, or brown flatsedge. This plant is native to much of Europe, Asia and North Africa from England, Portugal and Morocco east to China and Thailand. It is an ...

(brown galingale), a rare and endangered species of sedge, thrives in the wet areas at Cock Marsh where grazing animals disturb the ground. The plant is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s list of near threatened plant species. It is classified as Vulnerable in Britain and protected by Schedule 8 of the

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

. Cock Marsh is one of the

Maidenhead and Cookham Commons Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

which were originally part of the Royal Manor of Cookham. These were sold to a committee from the village for £2,800 and donated to the National Trust in 1937, which now manages them.

Round barrow cemetery

A round barrow cemetery, listed as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, is located at Cock Marsh on the

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the

. The cemetery contains four

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

burial mounds (tumuli) which survive as

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

. The burial mounds were excavated between 1874 and 1877. The mounds were built in the early Bronze Age and later used as a burial ground by Anglo-Saxons. In the largest mound, the remains of a woman were uncovered along with several remnants from a funeral feast. In one of the smaller barrows, the remains of a small child were discovered. Finds included cremation burials, flint tools, pottery, animal bones, part of a shield and a knife. When initially built, the largest mound had a diameter of 90 and was eight feet high. Today, only the largest mound is discernible.

References

{{SSSIs Berks Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire National Trust properties in Berkshire Cookham