The Wildflower Ark

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Lowland Meadows in Eastern Cleveland

Flower-rich meadows and pastures were once a common sight across much of lowland Britain. They were created by man’s felling of woodland and have then developed through centuries of traditional farming methods, such as low-intensity cattle grazing and hay-making. The result of this long process has been the creation of grasslands with a large diversity of native grasses and wildflowers, which in turn provide a wonderfully-rich habitat for many animals including birds, butterflies and small mammals.

Unfortunately, such lowland meadows have become quite rare. At least 97% of the lowland meadows in England and Wales have been lost during the 20th Century due to the intensification of agriculture. Lowland meadows have become a rare habitat in the UK, only 5-10,000 hectares are thought to be left in England and Wales and as a result, lowland meadows are now a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Where lowland meadows do still exist they provide a living connection with the past, with traditional farming methods that were used for centuries and that helped to create the character of our local landscape.

The Wildflower Ark co-ordinated a one year project, ‘Hunt for Lost Meadows’, funded through a grant from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The aim of the project was to locate lowland meadows in eastern Cleveland, to produce an inventory with information on their location, character, extent and condition, and increase public awareness of this valuable habitat through exhibitions, guided walks and talks to local community groups.

Activities included

• a review of existing records to locate potential lowland meadows that had been previously documented,
• a public appeal for information on old meadows that people knew about or remembered from the past, alongside the distribution of a meadow wildflower indicator chart
• training a team of volunteers in wildflower identification so that they could then walk public footpaths and roadsides looking for wildflowers that could indicate the presence of a lowland meadow,
• a botanical survey of all potential lowland meadows sites found,
• practical meadow management with Tees Valley Wildlife Trust Volunteer teams.

During the project, sixty nine sites were visited and thirty nine were found to be lowland meadows containing areas of herb-rich grassland. Some are unimproved grassland and others are semi-improved grassland (that is they have had some fertiliser application, but they are still relatively wildflower-rich).

All but one of the sites recorded are grazing pasture, rather than hay meadows, and they mainly occur on steep-sided slopes where it has not been possible to plough the soil or spray with fertiliser. Many are under threat from the encroachment of scrub, usually Gorse or Bramble.

A leaflet and map providing more information on local lowland meadows and detailing a walk passing through pastures can be downloaded below.

To download a copy of the leaflet click here (400 Kb).

To download a copy of the map click here (200 Kb).