King's Meads is a nature reserve between the towns of Hertford and Ware in Hertfordshire. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and with an area of 96 hectares it is the largest of the Trust's reserves. [1] The site has been registered by the Trust as Common land, but the registration for some areas was disallowed due to objections. [2] [3]
The name King's Meads was given to what were previously known as The Meads by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in 2015, although the original King's Meads - sold by Charles I to Hertford Corporation in 1627 for £100 - form only a small part of the nature reserve. [4] Other parts of The Meads, particularly in Ware, have been in private and communal ownership since the Middle Ages, with names such a Lady's Mead, Widows Mead, Mill Mead, Broad Mead and Chadwell Mead. [5]
The site is water meadows which are subject to flooding in winter. 265 wildflower species have been recorded, including some which are rare in the county such as reflexed salt-marsh grass and lesser sea spurrey. It has large populations of water birds, and is an important site for over-wintering European stonechats. 119 bird species have been recorded. [1]
There is access from the Lee Navigation towpath and from Mead Lane. The New River runs through the site, and the A10 road passes over it on the Kingsmead Viaduct. [6]
Hertford Heath is a village and civil parish near the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,672.
The Kingsmead Viaduct (or Kings Meads Viaduct is a raised dual-carriageway viaduct of the A10 road on the eastern outskirts of Ware, Hertfordshire, England. It carries the A10 over the River Lea, the New River and the Hertford East branch line.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly 810 hectares north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon. It has over 21,000 members, and is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK. It is a Registered Charity, with its Registered Office in St Albans, and had an income in the year to 31 March 2014 of over £1.5 million.
Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Rye House, Hoddesdon, 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.
Stocker's Lake is an old flooded gravel pit of approx 90 acres (37.5ha) at Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England, within the Colne Valley Regional Park which is designated as a Local Nature Reserve.
Hunsdon Mead is a 34 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Harlow and east of Roydon in Essex. The site is partly in Essex and partly in Hertfordshire, and it is jointly owned and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust and the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The SSSI also includes part of the neighbouring Roydon Mead. The planning authorities are East Hertfordshire District Council and Epping Forest District Council. Hunsdon Mead is registered common land.
Waterford Heath is a 35.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Waterford in Hertfordshire, England. It is owned by Lafarge Tarmac and managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust together with East Hertfordshire District Council and Lafarge.
Balls Wood is a 58.5 hectare nature reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in Hertford Heath in East Hertfordshire. The wood was purchased by the Trust from the Forestry Commission.
Hertford Heath nature reserve is a 28 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hertford Heath in Hertfordshire. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and the local planning authority is East Hertfordshire District Council.
Thorley Wash or Thorley Flood Pound is a 17.3-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Thorley, south of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire. It was formerly a flood pound for the Stort Navigation, which was decommissioned in 2004 and converted to a more natural state. It was purchased by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust from the Environment Agency in 2011.
Hill End Pit is a 0.7 hectare nature reserve on the site of a former chalk pit, in St Paul's Walden in North Hertfordshire. It was formerly managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT). In February 2016 HMWT announced that three sites, Barkway Chalk Pit, Hill End Pit and Pryor's Wood, which HMWT managed on behalf of their owner, North Hertfordshire District Council, were to return to Council management as the Trust was no longer able to meet the cost. It has the largest colony of Azeca goodalli snails in Hertfordshire. Plants include viper's bugloss, cowslip and marjoram, there are butterflies such as common blue and gatekeeper, and many birds including woodpeckers.
Hilfield Park Reservoir is a 76.3 ha construction built in 1953 between Bushey and Elstree in Hertfordshire, and owned by Affinity Water. Declared a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in 1969, it is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT). It is the oldest LNR in Hertfordshire.
Oughton Nature Reserve in Hitchin in Hertfordshire is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The 6.2-hectare site on the north bank of the River Oughton is not publicly accessible, but it can be viewed across the river from Oughtonhead Common.
Long Deans is a 15 hectare nature reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in Nash Mills, between Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is neutral and chalk grassland and woodland with beech, ash, oak and wild cherry. Birds include common linnet, common bullfinch and song thrush, and the site is home to bats.
Fir and Pond Woods is a 29 hectare nature reserve in Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It is two separate woods, with Fir Wood connected by a short footpath to the large Pond Wood to the south.
Willowmead is a 1.5 hectare nature reserve in north Hertford. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
Lemsford Springs is a 4 hectare nature reserve in Lemsford, Hertfordshire, England. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, which purchased the site in 1970. Notable for its lagoons, the site is in the Lea valley and its other habitats are meadow, hedgerows, marsh and willow woodland.
Longspring Wood is a 1.2 hectare nature reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in Kings Langley in Hertfordshire.
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