Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow

Common land in Gloucestershire, England managed for grazing and wildlife

Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Upham Meadow (known locally as Twyning Meadow)
Location within Gloucestershire
Location	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO917375
Coordinates	52°02′11″N 2°07′18″W / 52.036291°N 2.121679°W / 52.036291; -2.121679
Interest	Biological
Area	104.0 hectare
Notification	1991
Natural England website

Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow (grid reference SO917375) is a 104.0-hectare (257-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire & Worcestershire, at Twyning and near Bredon, notified in 1991.

Location and habitat

The site is common land (open access). The Meadows lie next to the River Avon on the border between counties. Upham Meadow is managed for a hay crop. Summer Leasow has restricted common grazing rights and is pasture. This land, which is semi-improved neutral grassland, is flooded in the winter. Thus the site is significant for its over-wintering waders and wildfowl, and breeding waders. This is a relatively large area, with a high water table and there is minimum disturbance. There are ditches and wet areas generally.

The photographs in the gallery below provide narrative on the use and rights.

Flora

The site supports grasses and herbs which are typical of wet neutral meadows. Species include narrow-leaved water-dropwort (Oenanthe silaifolia), which is one of the largest populations in Great Britain. There is crested dog's tail, meadow foxtail, meadow buttercup, great burnet and meadow vetchling. The nationally scarce mousetail is recorded for this site (one of three locations in Gloucestershire).

Birds

The site supports nationally significant numbers of breeding and over-wintering birds. Breeding birds include redshank, curlew, snipe and lapwing. The wet areas and ditches support reed warbler, sedge warbler, reed bunting and mallard.

Over-wintering sees the site used for feeding and roosting by large numbers of lapwing, dunlin, and golden plover. Recorded counts for golden plover indicate over two thousand. Recordings also show use by Bewick's swan in significant numbers. snipe, redshank and curlew over-winter at the site.

References

SSSI source

External links

Natural England (SSSI information)

Upham Meadow and narrative
Upham Meadow and narrative
Upham Meadow – entrance
Summer Leasow

v t e Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows
Neighbouring areas Avon Herefordshire Oxfordshire Wiltshire Worcestershire

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