What to See

Green-winged Orchid

Common Milkwort

Yellow Rattle

Lady's Mantle

 
Plants and flowers

You can see more than 90 different flowering plants at Edford Meadow nature reserve, renowned for the sheer variety of orchids including common spotted, green winged, heath spotted, and southern marsh orchid, which are at their best in June.

The sympathetic management of these hay meadows, over many years, has allowed a vast array of beautiful plants and flowers to survive and flourish here. Yarrow, black knapweed, pignut, corky-fruited water dropwort, ox-eye daisy, cowslip, common milkwort and saw-wort are just a few to look out for here so don’t forget your ID books.

The hay cut takes place at the end of July so be sure to visit before then and please do stick to paths to avoid damaging the hay.

Fungi

Because these meadows are relatively untouched they are also home to rare fungi like wax caps. These brightly coloured fungi like fields that have not had much fertiliser added and may be seen from October to December.

Birds and butterflies

In summer you’ll see many butterflies, attracted by the flowers for nectaring and breeding, including common blue, marbled white, small and large skippers.

Skylarks can be heard singing overhead and swallows seen feeding over the hay meadows.

The damp grasslands of the nature reserve attract well camouflaged snipe, and woodcock have been spotted in the damp woodland and ditches during the winter months.

The hedges and scrub provide an important habitat for nesting and foraging farmland birds such as goldfinches, bullfinches and linnets.

About

Traditionally managed hay meadows

This nature reserve is so special because of its long standing traditional management as hay meadows, almost entirely without the use of agri-chemicals, at least since the Second World War.

We continue to manage these meadows in the same tradition by grazing and hay cutting. The majority of the reserve is managed by taking a late summer hay-cut (after July 15th) which allows time for most plants to flower and set seed. These fields are then after-grazed by a small number of cattle to achieve the desired sward height. Two fields are grazed throughout the summer as they are unsuitable for hay-cutting machinery. Cattle are favoured as they provide a mix of tightly grazed turf interspersed with taller tussock areas.

The meadows are bordered by mature hedgerows dominated by hazel, hawthorn and blackthorn. Hedges are managed to maintain a dense structure through a regime of flailing sections each year. Scrub is controlled in areas where it begins to encroach in to the grassland, in other areas scrub is retained to provide nesting and foraging habitat.

The Mells River flows along the southern end of the reserve, lined with alder and willows, and attracts dragonfly and damselfly.

Coal and canals

Areas of the reserve are hummocky probably due, at least in part, to small-scale extraction of coal here in the late 19th Century. The adjacent concrete works is shown on the First Edition O.S. map (1886) as Edford Colliery.

Part of the proposed Dorset and Somerset Canal, linking Poole, in Dorset with the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, also lies within the reserve.

Construction of this first and only part of canal started in 1786 with a branch, going from the main line at Frome to the southern reaches of the Somerset coalfield at Nettlebridge. But money ran out and the project was abandoned in 1803, never to be completed. A short section of this can be seen though, appearing as a wide ditch, running east ­to west on the northern side of the footpath.

Other remains of this water highway can be seen on adjacent land and the footpath that runs through the centre of the reserve appears to follow the line of the former towpath, a fact supported by the land form along its route.

This short section of the former canal remains damp all year with a few wetland species growing here such as yellow flag iris and remote sedge.

9.52 ha (23.51 acres)

Location & Access

Map

How to get there

The nature reserve is in the parish of Coleford, 1km south east of Holcombe, Somerset.

Grid reference: ST 674 488

Parking: Roadside parking at 677487 on Ham Hill. ­Follow public footpath sign west from roadside to reserve.

Footpaths: Two public footpaths cross the reserve leading from Edford to Ham. There is also access, on foot, along two permissive paths but these close May to August to protect the hay crop.

Events Nearby

Click the following link for a full list of Somerset wildlife events