Racecourse Meadow

Also within

Warwickshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Description Racecourse Meadow is an unimproved field which lies in the flood plain of the River Avon 150 metres north of the river near its confluence with the River Stour and lies between Shottery Brook and Stratford upon Avon steeplechase course. It is a herb rich neutral grassland overlying alluvial clays and has a characteristic flood meadow community of meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratensis and great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis, where traditional hay meadow management has been applied to seasonally flooded land with alluvial soils. There is evidence that in the nineteenth century this grassland type was widespread and common in some parts of Britain, particularly in the Midlands and also southern England in the case of flood meadows. In the twentieth century, however, they have declined severely as a result of agricultural improvement, the neglect of common meadow rights and from gravel extraction. Racecourse Meadow is now one of the seven last remaining flood meadow sites known in Warwickshire. The meadow has a sward that is species rich with a diversity of herbs and grasses. Amongst the many species of grass found in the meadow characteristically none of them appears dominant. The most abundant species are meadow foxtail, common bent grass Agrostis capillaris, crested dog’s tail Cynosurus cristatus and red fescue Festuca rubra. The density and variety of herbs in the sward is exceptionally high for a flood meadow community with great burnet, common knapweed Centaurea nigra, meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris and creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens all generally abundant. Lady’sbedstraw Galium verum also grows in abundance in the meadow, this is unusual because in most flood meadows it is a rare component of the sward. In this meadow meadow barley Hordeum secalinum is also found growing in abundance and although unusual in flood meadows it is characteristic of many unimproved meadows in Warwickshire. Timothy Phleum pratense is also abundant in the meadow. Herb species found here which are uncommon in Warwickshire are pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus and corn parsley Petroselinum segetum, the latter is only known from four sites in the county.

Species mentioned

Plant communities