Barn Hill Meadows

Also within

East Riding of Yorkshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Unit	Feature	Condition	Area (ha)	Assessed
SE728286	—	Favourable	5.65	2012-07-16
SE733285	—	Favourable	5.65	2012-07-16
SE737280	—	Favourable	1.79	2012-07-17
SE739281	—	Favourable	1.18	2018-10-03

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Area, 8.6 hectares 21.2 ac Description Barn Hill Meadows comprise seven fields lying just to the west of Howden, in the flood plain of the Old Derwent. The site is important for its herb rich, unimproved, neutral grassland, a habitat now uncommon in the intensively farmed landscape of Humberside and in lowland England generally. The fields have been traditionally managed for hay and several of them retain remnant ridge and furrow characteristics. Boundary hedgerows and ditches form an integral part of the site. The dominant grasses in the sward are red fescue Festuca rubra, sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus and cock's foot Dactylis glomerata with false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius locally abundant and quaking grass Briza media occurring sparsely. A particular feature of these fields is the abundance of great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis which occurs here with other species indicative of unimproved grassland, such as pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus and meadow crane's bill Geranium pratense. Characteristic species on drier ground also include oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare and common knapweed Centaurea nigra while in wetter areas there are tall herb communities comprising meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria, purple loosestrife Lythrum salicaria, yellow loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris, common meadow rue Thalictrum flavum and ragged-robin Silene flos-cuculi. Common reed Phragmites australis and sweet grass Glyceria spp., are locally dominant along ditches and in the damper furrows.

Species mentioned

Show the 17 species mentioned in the description, with red-list status ▾

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Grouped by host-plant — open a plant to see its insects. Some insects feed on more than one of these plants, so they appear under each.

Black knapweed Centaurea 4

Black-veined moth Siona lineata	Critically Endangered	Centaurea nigra
Satyr pug Eupithecia satyrata	Vulnerable	any Centaurea
Grey pug Eupithecia subfuscata	Near Threatened	any Centaurea
Scarce forester Jordanita globulariae	Near Threatened	Centaurea nigra

Cock's foot Dactylis glomerata 3

Large nutmeg Apamea anceps	Near Threatened	Dactylis glomerata
Wall Lasiommata megera	Near Threatened	Dactylis glomerata
Rosy minor Litoligia literosa	Near Threatened	Dactylis glomerata

Common reed Phragmites australis 3

White-mantled wainscot Archanara neurica	Near Threatened	Phragmites australis
Reed leopard Phragmataecia castaneae	Near Threatened	Phragmites australis
Fenn's wainscot Protarchanara brevilinea	Near Threatened	Phragmites australis

Red fescue Festuca 2

Grayling Hipparchia semele	Vulnerable	Festuca rubra
Small heath Coenonympha pamphilus	Near Threatened	any Festuca

Meadow sweet Filipendula ulmaria 2

Scarce vapourer Orgyia recens	Endangered	Filipendula ulmaria
Satyr pug Eupithecia satyrata	Vulnerable	Filipendula ulmaria

False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius 1

Rosy minor Litoligia literosa

Near Threatened

Arrhenatherum elatius

Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus 1

Wall Lasiommata megera

Near Threatened

Holcus lanatus

Common meadow rue Thalictrum flavum 1

Marsh carpet Gagitodes sagittata

Near Threatened

Thalictrum flavum

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.