| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
  Location within Northumberland | |
| Location | Northumberland |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | NT915062 |
| Coordinates | 55°20′57″N2°08′06″W / 55.34924°N 2.13497°W |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 4.9 hectares (12 acres) |
| Notification | 1989 |
| Location map | DEFRA MAGIC map |
| Natural England website | |
Barrow Meadow is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is a species-rich hay meadow of a sort now rare in Northumberland. [1] [2]
Barrow Meadow is a field 4.9 hectares (12 acres) in area in the north-east of England in the county of Northumberland, some 0.4 miles (0.64 km) west-south-west of the village of Alwinton. The meadow is situated on flat land between the River Coquet and a southern tributary, the Barrow Burn, at their confluence some 150 metres (490 ft) above sea level. The surrounding terrain is hilly moorland. [1] [2]
The meadow is judged to be species-rich in comparison with fields managed using contemporary farming methods involving the use of artificial fertilisers and reseeding. [2] Aules Hill Meadows in the south-west and Barrow Burn Meadows in the north of the county are similarly protected hay meadows. [3] [4]
Barrow Meadow is a northern hay meadow characterised by the presence of a rich diversity of grasses, and an abundance of herbs. Grass species found at the site include sweet vernal-grass ( Anthoxanthum odoratum ), crested dog's-tail ( Cynosurus cristatus ), red fescue ( Festuca rubra ) and quaking grass ( Briza media ). Forbs include pignut ( Conopodium majus ), eyebright ( Euphrasia agg. ), meadow vetchling ( Lathyrus pratensis ), common knapweed ( Centaurea nigra ) and several species of lady's mantle ( Alchemilla glabra ), ( A. xanthochlora ) and ( A. filicaulis ). [2]
Other species found at the site include wood crane's-bill ( Geranium sylvaticum ), meadowsweet ( Filipendula ulmaria ), changing forget-me-not ( Myosotis discolor ), fairy flax ( Linum catharticum ), field wood-rush ( Luzula campestris ), betony ( Stachys officinalis ) and northern marsh-orchid ( Dactylorhiza purpurella ), as well as legumes, including meadow vetchling, bitter vetch ( Lathyrus montanus ), lesser trefoil ( Trifolium dubium ), red clover ( T. pratense ), white clover ( T. repens ), common and greater bird's-foot trefoils ( Lotus corniculatus ) and ( L. uliginosus ). [2]
The condition of Barrow Meadow was judged to be favourable in 2012. [5]
Part of the land area designated as Barrow Meadow SSSI is owned by the Ministry of Defence [6]
Acaster South Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, near York, England. It consists of two alluvial flood-meadows, and was designated in 1988 because it supports diverse fauna and flora, some of which is rare in the Vale of York area. One of the rarities is the tansy beetle, which feeds on the leaves of the tansy plant.
The Bottoms is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It lies just south of the A181 road, roughly midway between the villages of Cassop and Wheatley Hill, some 10 km south-east of Durham city.
Chaceley Meadow is a 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954 and renotified in 1993. It lies on the eastern edge of Chaceley village and is about half a mile west of the River Severn.
Clarke's Pool Meadow is a 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1997. It lies on the flat top of 'Old Hill' about half a mile south of Blakeney. The site consists of two fields which were purchased by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in 1997. The site was designated an SSSI in the same year and it is one of the finest surviving traditional hay meadows in Gloucestershire.
Range Farm Fields is a 12.8-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, near to Gloucester City, notified in 1996.
Gweunydd Glan-y-glasnant is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Carmarthenshire, Wales, designated in 1993 for its botanical features.
Allendale Moors is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The upland moorland ridge site is listed for its heath, flush and upland grassland which provide a habitat for a nationally important assemblage of moorland breeding birds.
Allolee to Walltown is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The site, which follows the path of a section of Hadrian's Wall, is notable for an unusually wide range of grassland types growing on thin soil above the Whin Sill, a rock formation peculiar to the Northern Pennines.
Alnmouth Saltmarsh and Dunes is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. It is the largest saltflat on the north-east coast, located on the south bank of the River Aln estuary, and notable for the varied plant community found on the interface between the saltflats and the dunes. It overlaps with and forms part of the much larger Northumberland Shore SSSI.
Aules Hill Meadows is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The site, listed since 1992, is a set of four traditionally managed northern hay meadows, now rare in Northumberland.
Bamburgh Coast and Hills is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the coast of north Northumberland, England. The site is one of the longest-standing SSSIs in England, having been listed since 1954, and displays the interaction of a fluid magma rock, now known as the Whin Sill, interacting with older sedimentary rock. Coastal erosion at the site enables sections of the geological strata to be seen. In turn, the soil associated with the Whin Sill gives rise to a distinct pattern of vegetation which on its own merits is at this site found notable.
Barrow Burn Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is a species-rich hay meadow of a sort now rare in Northumberland.
Bavington Crags is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, England. The site is an outcropping of the Whin Sill which gives rise to distinctive flora particular to the thin soil conditions on this bedrock.
Brada Hill is a small hill escarpment near the coast of north Northumberland in North East England, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The 2.4 hectares site is an outcropping of a local stone group, the Whin Sill, on which grows a range of flora representative of the thin, drought-prone soil conditions and influenced by the underlying geology.
Briarwood Banks is the name given to a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, North East England. Composed mainly of elm, oak and ash, the site is semi-natural and now recovering from the removal of planted conifers.
Ron Ward's Meadow With Tadley Pastures is a site of Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is based on the edge of Tadley in Hampshire, England. It is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Fallowlees Flush is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in mid-Northumberland, England. The steeply sloping site has calcium-rich springs supporting vegetation rare in the county.
Quarry Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, at the south edge of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, and adjacent to the A61 road. It contains an outcrop of Magnesian Limestone, exposed by former quarrying. 255 million years ago this limestone was the peripheral sediment of a tropical sea. The land was donated in 1945 to the people of Ripon by the town's mayor, Alderman Thomas Fowler Spence, a varnish manufacturer. The land was notified as an SSSI in 1986 because its calcareous grassland supported a large diversity of plant species. The site features a Schedule 8 protected plant, thistle broomrape. The land is protected as a nature reserve, and it is also managed as a recreational area. Therefore, its calcareous grass area is fenced off for protection and study, but it also contains a car park, information signs, a children's play area, accessible paths, benches, and dog waste bins.
Bishop Monkton Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated east of Bishop Monkton village in North Yorkshire, England. It consists mostly of marshy, calcareous grassland, with some broadleaved woodland, and some fen alongside the two watercourses which run through the site. This varied wetland forms a habitat for a variety of plants, including the semi-parasitic marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris).
Mar Field Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, north of Masham, North Yorkshire, England, in a rural area known as Marfield. It is situated on land containing woodland carr, fen, spring-fed marshy grassland and drier calcareous grassland, between the River Ure to the east and Marfield Wetland nature reserve to the west. As "one of the best examples of fen habitat in the Vale of York," it is a protected habitat for a variety of plants, including the common butterwort, a carnivorous plant. There is no public access to this site.