Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location within Somerset | |
Location | Somerset |
---|---|
Grid reference | ST300170 |
Coordinates | 50°56′53″N 2°59′52″W / 50.94817°N 2.99783°W |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 16.1 hectares (0.161 km2; 0.062 sq mi) |
Notification | 1987 |
Natural England website |
Barrington Hill Meadows (grid reference ST300170) is a 16.1 hectare (39.5 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England, notified in 1987.
Barrington Hill Meadows, 2 km west of the A358, midway between the villages of Windmill Hill and Bickenhall, is an English Nature national nature reserve.[1]
This site comprises four meadows surrounded by well established hedges on gently sloping clay-rich soils. It is an outstanding example of a traditionally managed unimproved neutral grassland of a type now rare in Britain. Additional interest lies in the occurrence of an extremely rare grass species. The meadows belong to a type characterised by the widespread occurrence of Sweet Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus), Cowslip (Primula veris) and Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio). A total of 74 different species have so far been recorded. This site is one of only 3 localities in Britain in which the grass Gaudinia fragilis is a prominent feature of the sward.[2]
References
- ↑ "Barrington Hill NNR". English Nature. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ↑ "Barrington Hill Meadows" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 12 August 2006.