Upwood Meadows

Upwood Meadows is a 6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Upwood in Cambridgeshire.[1][2] It is also a National Nature Reserve[3][4] and a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site.[5] It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.[6]

Upwood Meadows

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of Search	Cambridgeshire
Grid reference	TL 251 826[1]
Interest	Biological
Area	6.0 hectares[1]
Notification	1985[1]
Location map	Magic Map

The site has three fields on calcareous clay with poor drainage, a type of pasture now very rare, and was described by Derek Ratcliffe as having "an outstandingly rich and diverse flora".[5] Other habitats are mature hedgerows, ponds and scrub. One of the fields is agriculturally unimproved, and the evidence of medieval ridge and furrow still survives. Flowering plants include pepper saxifrage and green-winged orchid.[7]

There is access by a footpath from Bentley Close in Upwood.

See also

• Great Fen
• Woodwalton Fen

References

1. "Designated Sites View: Upwood Meadows". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
2. "Map of Upwood Meadows". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
3. "Cambridgeshire's National Nature Reserves". Natural England. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
4. "Designated Sites View: Upwood Meadows NNR". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
5. Ratcliffe, Derek (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 139. ISBN 0521 21403 3.
6. "Upwood Meadows". Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
7. "Upwood Meadows citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2016.