Shadowbrook Meadows

5
600 year old hedgerows
Rich, old, traditional meadows with a stream running through it.

Location

1.5km west of Hampton in Arden
Hampton in Arden
Warwickshire
B92 0DL

OS Map Reference

SP 187 814
A static map of Shadowbrook Meadows

Know before you go

Size
4 hectares
P

Parking information

No parking available

Grazing animals

Yes - Seasonal Grazing

Walking trails

Relatively flat reserve with soft patches. Please keep to the field boundaries

Access

Limited parking around the reserve and access involves climbing over a gate.

Dogs

No dogs permitted

Assistance dogs only

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

April to July

About the reserve

What's it like to visit?

Take yourself back in time to a slice of agricultural history - discover a meadow that is unfertilised, unsprayed and unploughed. This meadows’ diversity has been maintained over centuries by the unaltered, traditional haycutting and grazing regime which we keep alive today.

A stream called Shadow Brook runs through the meadows with ancient hedgerows around the edges.  The stream divides the site into two dry meadows, on the eastern side, with two wet meadows to the west. 

What might you spot? 

Especially colourful in June and July, both wet and dry meadows give rise to swathes of wild flowers typical of their habitats. Delights such as meadowsweet, betony and the very local meadow thistle can be discovered in the damper meadows, which flood regularly in the winter. Cowslip, oxeye daisy and pignut create a medley of colour alongside delicate heath spotted-orchids. A delightful mix of grasses, including  quaking-grass and crested dog’s-tail, love the drier eastern meadows.  

On bright summer days, visits are rewarded with an abundance of butterflies, mating, egg-laying and drinking nectar amongst the flowers. Common blue and small copper butterflies join meadow specialities such as chimney-sweeper moth and six other nationally scarce insects. 

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Contact us

Karl Curtis
Contact number: 024 7630 2912
Contact email: enquiries@wkwt.org.uk

Environmental designation

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

Location map