Little Tew Meadows

Also within

Oxfordshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Jurassic · Rock Type: Limestone

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Description One of the largest continuous areas of agriculturally unimproved grassland in Oxfordshire with several locally uncommon plants. The site has four adjoining fields of which one is managed as hay meadow while the others have a long history of management by low intensity summer cattle grazing. Two of the fields have prominent ridge and furrow topography. The site is situated on Jurassic limestone which gives rise to a calcareous influence to the flora. It is located in the valley of the River Dorn, a tributary of the River Evenlode. The grassland is generally moderately calcareous in character but some areas are strongly calcareous. The range of calcicoles present includes salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba, hoary plantain Plantago media, downy oat Avenula pubescens, quaking grass Briza media, dropwort Filipendula vulgaris and rough hawkbit Leontodon hispidus. Other locally uncommon plants present are adder's tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum, lady's mantle Alchemilla filicaulis, spiked sedge Carex spicata and rest-harrow Ononis repens. There is also an abundance of more widespread meadow plants such as bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus, cowslip Primula veris, lady's bedstraw Galium verum, pignut Conopodium majus and hairy sedge Carex hirta. A particularly notable feature of the site is the presence of extensive flushes. These are dominated by hard rush Juncus inflexus and associated plants include ragged-robin Silene flos-cuculi, square stemmed St John's wort Hypericum tetrapterum and brooklime Veronica beccabunga. The margins of these flushes support patches of very species rich grassland with numerous notable plants including betony Betonica officinalis, devil's bit scabious Succisa pratensis, water avens Geum avens, tormentil Potentilla erecta and common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii. Limestone outcrops are present around the site of an old quarry in one of the fields. The very shallow soils here support plants such as meadow saxifrage Saxifraga granulataa, parsley piert Aphanes arvensis, thyme leaved sandwort Arenaria serpyllifolia and knotted clover Trifolium striatum. In addition to the botanical interest the site is also of value in providing a habitat for wintering jack snipe and common snipe and reed bunting have been recorded as regularly breeding in the tall vegetation of the flushes.

Species mentioned

Plant communities