North Meadow, Cricklade () is a hay

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

near the town of Cricklade, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is 24.6

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s in size. It is a traditionally managed lowland hay-meadow, or ''lammas land'', and is grazed ''in common'' between 12 August and 12 February each year, and cut for hay no earlier than 1 July. This pattern of land use and management has existed for many centuries and has resulted in the species rich grassland flora and fauna present on the site. Over 250 species of higher plant occur in the meadow, but it is of particular note as it holds by far the largest British population of the snake's-head fritillary ('' Fritillaria meleagris''). The 500,000 fritillaries which flower each year represent 80% of the British population.

History

The meadow is situated between two rivers, the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

and the Churn, and the unique habitat for the fritillary was created by regular winter flooding. Such meadows were once common in Britain, but with the advent of modern farming many were drained and ploughed for arable crops from the 1730s onwards. In the case of North Meadow, it escaped such a fate by virtue of the preservation of the '' Court Leet'', the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

system of town governance which made sure the land was held in common. The land is managed by Natural EnglandNatural England
/ref> and is run with the support of the Court Leet. The ancient '' Hay Lot'' stones which once marked local farmers' plots can still be seen within the meadow. The meadow was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971. Part of the site has been designated a national nature reserve.

Flora and fauna

The site includes for many types of grasses, such as red fescue ('' Festuca rubra''), perennial rye grass ('' Lolium perenne''), meadow foxtail (''

Alopecurus pratensis ''Alopecurus pratensis'', known as the meadow foxtail or the field meadow foxtail, is a Perennial plant, perennial grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia. This common plant is found on grasslands, especia ...

''), crested dog's tail ('' Cynosurus cristatus''), yellow oatgrass ('' Trisetum flavescens''), meadow brome ('' Bromus commutatus''), and meadow barley ('' Hordeum brachyantherum''). The meadow is also rich in various herbs including typical hayfield species pepper saxifrage ('' Silaum silaus''), yellow rattle (''

Rhinanthus minor ''Rhinanthus minor'', known as yellow rattle, is a herbaceous wildflower in the genus ''Rhinanthus'' in the family (biology), family Orobanchaceae (the broomrapes). It has circumpolar distribution in Europe, Russia, western Asia, and northern No ...

''), great burnet ('' Sanguisorba officinalis''), black knapweed ('' Centaurea nigra''), adder's tongue (''

Ophioglossum vulgatum ''Ophioglossum vulgatum'', commonly known as adder's-tongue, southern adder's-tongue or adder's-tongue fern, is a species of fern in the family ''Ophioglossaceae''. The chloroplast genome was reported to have a size of 138,562 base pairs. Descr ...

''), common meadowrue ('' Thalictrum flavum''), and ragged robin ('' Lychnis flos-cuculi''). Other meadow flowers include for common knapweed ('' Centaurea nigra''), meadow buttercup ('' Ranunculus acris''), yellow rattle (''

''), cowslip ('' Primula veris''), meadowsweet ('' Filipendula ulmaria''), and ox-eye daisy (''

Leucanthemum vulgare ''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, and an introduced ...

''). The meadow is surrounded by rivers, streams and drainage ditches which add to the biological diversity of the site, with many species of bank-side plant present including for slender tufted-sedge ('' Carex acuta''), marsh arrowgrass ('' Triglochin palustris''), and great water-dock ('' Rumex hydrolapathum''), tubular water-dropwort ('' Oenanthe fistulosa''), marsh marigold ('' Caltha palustris''), marsh foxtail ('' Alopecurus geniculatus''), early marsh-orchid ('' Dactylorhiza incarnata''), and brown sedge ('' Carex disticha''). As may be expected for such abundant flora, there is also a rich and diverse insect and reptile fauna present on the site. Typical meadow butterflies include for meadow brown ('' Maniola jurtina''), common blue (''

Polyommatus icarus The common blue butterfly or European common blue (''Polyommatus icarus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic and has been introduced to North America. Butterfli ...

''), small heath ('' Coenonympha pamphilus''), and the marsh fritillary ('' Euphydryas aurinia''). Bordering hedges support gatekeeper ('' Pyronia tithonus''), ringlet ('' Aphantopus hyperantus''), and speckled wood ('' Pararge aegeria'') butterflies. There are also 14 species of dragonfly recorded including the brown hawker ('' Aeshna grandis''), black-tailer skimmer ('' Orthetrum cancellatum'') and the ruddy darter ('' Sympetrum sanguineum''). The common frog is also prevalent. The meadow also supports a large variety of birds, including

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

s, blue tits, common chaffinches, linnets and treecreepers within the bordering hedges; whilst grey wagtails, reed buntings, sedge warblers, barn swallows, sand martins and

swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

s can be found around the rivers and ditches.

References

External links

Natural England website
(SSSI information)
SSSI boundary at Defra's Magic MapNorth Meadow Nature Reserve leaflet from Natural England

A page at "Window on Wiltshire's Heritage" website

A video about North Meadow shown on Swindon Viewpoint
{{coord, 51.65012, N, 1.86553, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SU094946), display=title Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1971 Grasslands of the United Kingdom Meadows in Wiltshire