King's Meads is a nature reserve between the towns of Hertford and

Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada *Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom *Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire *Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County, Al ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. It is managed by the

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hill ...

, and with an area of 96 hectares it is the largest of the Trust's reserves. The site has been registered by the Trust as

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 ...

, but the registration for some areas was disallowed due to objections. The name ''King's Meads'' was given to what were previously known as ''The Meads'' by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in 2015, although the original King's Meads - sold by Charles I to Hertford Corporation in 1627 for £100 - form only a small part of the nature reserve. Other parts of The Meads, particularly in Ware, have been in private and communal ownership since the Middle Ages, with names such a Lady's Mead, Widows Mead, Mill Mead, Broad Mead and Chadwell Mead. The site is water meadows which are subject to flooding in winter. 265 wildflower species have been recorded, including some which are rare in the county such as reflexed salt-marsh grass and lesser sea spurrey. It has large populations of water birds, and is an important site for over-wintering

European stonechat The European stonechat (''Saxicola rubicola'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relativ ...

s. 119 bird species have been recorded. There is access from the

Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...

towpath and from Mead Lane. The New River runs through the site, and the A10 road passes over it on the

Kingsmead Viaduct The Kingsmead Viaduct (or ''Kings Meads Viaduct'' is a raised dual-carriageway viaduct of the A10 road on the eastern outskirts of Ware, Hertfordshire, England. It carries the A10 over the River Lea, the New River and the Hertford East branch ...

References

External links

Kings Mead, Herts Bird Club
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