Sweetbriar Road Meadows is 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 ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk, England Norfolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

Description

Enclosed between Norwich's outer ring road, industrial land and lying in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

of the River Wensum, the site acts as a ' green wedge' extending towards the city. The site consists of a series of unimproved

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

s with permanent water-logging which support many plant species. Three principal

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

communities are present; damp neutral grassland, marshy grassland and areas of tall

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

. A number of water-filled dykes bisect the site and attract large numbers of breeding

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

in the spring months. Large flocks of

redpoll The redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') is a species of small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Acanthis''. It breeds in the Arctic and north temperate Holarctic tundra and taiga. The redp ...

and occasionally

siskin The name siskin when referring to a bird is derived from an adaptation of the German dialect words ''sisschen'', ''zeischen'', which are diminutive forms of Middle High German (''zîsec'') and Middle Low German (''ziseke'', ''sisek'') words, wit ...

feed on the

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

trees that fringe the meadows. Many other bird species including

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. ''Gallinago'' snipe have a nearly ...

find the wet fields an ideal breeding habitat. The whole site is managed on traditional lines with light

pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

without the use of

artificial fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

s and

herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

. In January 2022 Sweetbriar Road Meadows and the adjacent marshes making up the Sweet Briar Marshes was purchased by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation on behalf of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The

Norfolk Wildlife Trust The Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) is one of 46 The Wildlife Trusts, wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest of all the trusts. It has over 35,500 members and eight loc ...

launched an appeal to raise the money to purchase Sweet Briar Marshes from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Location

Its western boundary is formed by the A140 outer ring road Sweet Briar Road.

Marriott's Way The Marriott's Way is a footpath, cycle-path and bridleway in north Norfolk, England, between Norwich and Aylsham via Themelthorpe. It forms part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) (Route 1) and the red route of Norwich's Pedalways cycle ...

NCR1 Natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''NCR1'' gene. NCR1 has also been designated as CD335 (cluster of differentiation The cluster of differentiation (also known as cluster of designation or cl ...

lies to the north and the Riverside Walk to the south. Mile Cross Marsh together with the adjacent Sycamore Crescent Wood are known collectively as the Wensum Local Nature ReserveWensum Local Nature Reserve
Retrieved 07 August 2015 and form the eastern boundary. The site is private land with no public access but can be viewed from public footpaths.

References

{{SSSIs Norfolk Parks and open spaces in Norwich Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1986 Meadows in Norfolk