Exploring Britain's lowland meadows and pastures

Writing about grasslands and the wonderful array of sounds, sights, smells and other sensations they provide seems a bit odd in the middle of February. But the first leaves of bluebells are just pushing up in the woods and I’ve seen the first primroses and celandines popping up through the grass. Spring is hopefully just around the corner.

It’s strange to think that just 10,000 years ago our islands were covered by ice and tundra. In geological terms this is less than a blink of an eye, so our wildlife doesn’t stand comparison with the sheer diversity of a rainforest that has existed for millions of years. Especially when you consider that, more or less since the end of the Ice Age, people have been managing these landscapes for food and fuel. Neolithic farming methods also prompted a big change when they arrived around 6000 years ago, as most of the forests were then cleared.

This interaction between human activity and nature over many millennia has created a wide range of different grasslands, all of them semi-natural. In this week’s blog I’ll briefly outline two types of these grasslands; what they are, where you might find them and when it’s best to visit them.

Lowland meadows and pastures

These are the meadows and pastures that were once so common across the UK – they have almost completely vanished now. Meadows provided hay that was rich in wildflowers that fed animals like horses and cattle in the winter, and was used for grazing in the autumn and spring. Typical plants of drier meadows include pepper saxifrage and green-winged orchid.

In valley bottoms floodplain meadows and flood pastures developed, with special plants like snake’s-head fritillary and breeding waders.

Though there are only a tiny fraction (around 2%) of these meadows left, they are found in nature reserves throughout most of lowland Britain. Look on your local Wildlife Trust, RSPB or Plantlife websites for local meadow reserve open days.

When and where to visit: See the snake’s-head fritillary at North Meadow National Nature Reserve in Cricklade, Wiltshire in April. For other floodplain meadows visit The Floodplains Meadow Partnership

Lowland calcareous grasslands

Chalk and limestone grasslands once characterised the entire landscape from the south coast to Yorkshire. Collectively called lowland calcareous grasslands, they were created by livestock grazing over many millennia. Downlands are particularly rich in plants, and can support over 40 species of flowers and grasses in a square metre. It’s really worth getting down on your hands and knees and taking a close look at a really good bit of downland turf – many of the flowers are tiny but beautiful.

One of my favourites is bastard-toadflax, which only grows in the very best quality downland turf and is the only member of the sandalwood family native to the UK.

Downlands are also very important for insects like butterflies including the Adonis Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper. Scrub is an important element of lowland calcareous grasslands.

When and where to visit: See top quality downland at Old Winchester Hill, on the Cotswolds at Bredon Hill, in Dorset at Hambledon Hill and at Barnack Hills and Holes in Cambridgeshire. The best time to visit is from May – July.

Next week I’ll write about two other types of grasslands - lowland acid grassland and purple moor-grass and rush pastures.

Pictures: Bob Gibbons

Miles King

Miles King is The Grasslands Trust’s Director of Conservation. He has worked in nature conservation for 25 years for a wide range of organisations including several Wildlife Trusts, Plantlife and English Nature. Miles enjoys writing about grasslands and nature.