Frays Farm Meadows

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Frays Farm Meadows
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Frays River in Frays Farm Meadows.jpg
Frays River in Frays Farm Meadows
Area of Search Greater London
Grid reference TQ057861
InterestBiological
Area28.2 hectares
Notification 1984
Location map Magic Map
Horses in western field Frays Farm Meadows horses.jpg
Horses in western field

Frays Farm Meadows is a 28.2-hectare (70-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Denham in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was notified as an SSSI in 1981, [1] [2] and has been managed by the London Wildlife Trust on behalf of Hillingdon Council since 1999. [3] It is part of the Colne Valley Regional Park. [4]

Contents

Frays Farm Meadows are a set of fields bounded on the south by the A40 road and on the west by the Grand Union Canal. The Frays River goes north through the site before turning west toward an old railway embankment that runs north from the A40, dividing the site into three parts: the western fields, the area between the embankment and the river, and the fields east and north of the river. The site is accessible to the public apart from fields on both sides of the embankment. Access to the western fields is by a stile on the eastern bank of the canal at Denham Lock. From there a path through Denham Lock Wood (another SSSI run by London Wildlife Trust, north-west of the Meadows) gives access to the northern and eastern fields.

Frays Farm Meadows provide a window on the medieval world, never having been intensively farmed. [3] They are one of the few remaining examples of unimproved wet alluvial grassland in Greater London and the Colne Valley. The linear features, river, embankment, ditches and hedges, contribute to the rich diversity of plants and animals. [1] Cows and horses graze in order to improve conditions by churning up the ground and encouraging pooling of water. Mammals on site include the nationally endangered water vole, and there are birds such as snipe, cuckoos, and a barn owl. Plants include marsh horsetail, ragged robin and arrowhead. [3]

Frays Valley Local Nature Reserve partly covers the same area as the SSSI. [2] [5] [6]

See also

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Frays River

Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne at Uxbridge Moor and rejoins it at West Drayton. The river is believed to be a mostly man-made anabranch to feed watermills in the Parish of Hillingdon. The name is originates from John Fray who owned Cowley Hall beside the river in the fifteenth century. Other names for the river are the Uxbridge and Cowley Mill Stream, the Cowley Stream or the Colham Mill Stream. In the 17th century the river powered five mills. The most southerly mill, Drayton Mill in West Drayton Parish, was mentioned in Domesday Book and was used for flour milling, paper-making and the manufacture of millboard. It ceased operation in about 1923.

Rye Meads

Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Rye House, Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea, to the north-east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.

Colne Valley Regional Park

The Colne Valley Regional Park is 27,500 acres of parks, green spaces and reservoirs alongside the often multi-channel River Colne and parallel Grand Union Canal, mainly in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with parts in the London Borough of Hillingdon, Berkshire and a small area in Surrey.

Old Park Wood

Old Park Wood is a 16.7-hectare (41-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The south-east part is an 8-hectare (20-acre) nature reserve owned and managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

Denham Lock Wood

Denham Lock Wood is a 6.3-hectare (16-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) next to the Grand Union Canal, and near Denham in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was notified in 1986 and is managed by the London Wildlife Trust on behalf of Hillingdon Council. It lies within the Colne Valley Regional Park.

Mid Colne Valley

Mid Colne Valley is a 132 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon and Denham in South Buckinghamshire. Its main importance lies in its extensive diversity of birdlife in lakes in former gravel pits.

Box Farm Meadows SSSI

Box Farm Meadows is a 8.3-hectare (21-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985. This was formerly known as Balls Green Pastures. The reserve is situated at the southern edge of Box village and one mile east of Nailsworth.

Salmonsbury Meadows SSSI

Salmonsbury Meadows is an 18-hectare (44-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1985. The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

References

  1. 1 2 "Frays Farm Meadows citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Map of Frays Farm Meadows". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Natural England, Cows MOOve in to rescue West London Meadow, Press release 22 May 2010 Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Colne Valley Regional Park map". Archived from the original on 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
  5. ↑ "Frays Valley". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Map of Frays Valley". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 22 January 2014.

Coordinates: 51°33′50″N0°28′35″W / 51.5639°N 0.4765°W / 51.5639; -0.4765

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