Whet Mead

Last updated
Whet Mead
Whet Mead 11.jpg
Type Local Nature Reserve
Location Witham, Essex
OS grid TL830138
Area 10.1 hectares
Managed by Braintree District Council

Whet Mead is a 10.1 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Witham in Essex. It is owned and managed by Braintree District Council. [1] [2]

Witham town in Essex, United Kingdom

Witham is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelmsford and the town of Colchester, on the Roman road between the two. The River Brain runs through the town and joins the River Blackwater just outside.

Essex County of England

Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region.

This site was formerly a rubbish tip, and before that a sewage works. Most of it is grassland with many different flowering plants, and a range of butterflies, dragonflies and seed-eating birds. Mammals include wood mice, bank voles and pygmy shrews. There is also scrub and young woodland. The River Brain runs along the southern boundary, meeting the River Blackwater in the south-east corner. [1] [3]

Bank vole species of rodent

The bank vole is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.

Eurasian pygmy shrew species of mammal

The Eurasian pygmy shrew, often known simply as the pygmy shrew, is a widespread shrew of northern Eurasia. It is the only shrew native to Ireland.

River Brain river in Essex, United Kingdom

The River Brain is a tributary of the River Blackwater in Essex, England. It gives its name to the town of Braintree, although Braintree lies on a low ridge between the Brain and the River Blackwater. To the north of Braintree it is known as Pods Brook. The brook rises near the village of Bardfield Saling. Below Braintree the Brain joins the Blackwater in Whet Mead in Witham.

The only access to the site is from Blackwater Lane, off Maldon Road.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Whet Mead". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Map of Whet Mead". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Newsletter No 5" (PDF). The Essex Field Club. January 1993. Retrieved 11 July 2016.

Coordinates: 51°47′34″N0°39′08″E / 51.7929°N 0.652189°E / 51.7929; 0.652189

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

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