John Barratt (Hayward), Author at Cricklade Court Leet

30th August 2026

Grazing Has Started on North Meadow

Grazing began on North Meadow this weekend, with 56 cows arriving to graze the meadow over the coming weeks (picture above taken today).

Grazing is at the heart of how North Meadow has been managed for centuries. Our traditional Lammas system — growing a hay crop through spring and summer, then opening the meadow to livestock for aftermath grazing — is what creates and sustains one of the most biodiverse places in Britain.

This ancient rhythm of cutting and grazing has given North Meadow its extraordinary richness: 350 recorded plant species, habitat for over 1,000 invertebrate species, and feeding and nesting ground for 130 bird species. It is also the reason North Meadow holds more than 80% of the entire UK population of snake’s head fritillary — one of Britain’s most beautiful and threatened wildflowers — and the reason the meadow holds international conservation status as a Special Area of Conservation. Visit our species database to find out what species have been recorded on North Meadow.

Getting Ready for Grazing

To enable grazing to take place, Court members have installed 2.5 km of electric fencing. We have also built 8 new pump frames, which let the cattle drink safely from the trough without damaging the riverbank or trampling the surrounding ground. The fences and pumps are checked daily by Court members.

Visiting the Meadow While Cattle Are Grazing

Please look out for the signs at each meadow entrance (see below). We ask visitors to keep dogs on leads (and pick up after them) and stay on the well-worn paths, which are also shown on the information boards at the entrances. The grazing animals and the fragile meadow soils need our care and respect, especially at this time of year.

North Meadow is a nationally important nature reserve — thank you for helping us look after this special place.

2nd April 20262nd April 2026

Natural England have Extended the Closure of North Meadow

Natural England have extended the closure of North Meadow until 23rd April.

Although the flood waters have receded the ground remains very soft and vulnerable to irreversible soil compaction from trampling. The paths are not yet marked risking damage to the emerging fritillaries.

Please do not visit North Meadow until it is re-opened to protect this rare and internationally important National Nature Reserve from damage.

Natural England are frequently reviewing the situation and may re-open the site before 23rd April if ground conditions allow. Please check back here for further updates.

24th March 202625th March 2026

North Meadow Species Database

Click the image below to explore the North Meadow Species Database

In June 2024, Cricklade Court Leet began a project to collate all known species records for North Meadow SAC.

We launched the project with a BioBlitz, working alongside local naturalists and six Wiltshire County Species Recorders.

While the Floodplain Meadows Partnership has undertaken extensive research into the plant communities of species-rich grasslands, far less was known about other groups of species on the site.

To address this, we brought together records from multiple sources, including:

- national databases such as NBN Atlas and iRecord
- the Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre
- newly commissioned surveys carried out by specialist recorder.

Malaise Trap on North Meadow

A major additional source of invertebrate data comes from a partnership with the Sanger Institute (Cambridge). This involves operating a monthly malaise trap, capturing flying insects for DNA sequencing.

What we’ve discovered so far

When we combined all available records, the results were remarkable:

- 1,774 species recorded
- 16,500 individual records
- 650 additional species identified through DNA sequencing and awaiting confirmation

This brings the total to nearly 2,500 species, and we expect this to increase to around 3,500 species within the next 12–18 months.

Why we created the database

We wanted to make this information accessible for research, conservation, and public use.

A simple spreadsheet quickly proved inadequate. Instead, we developed a relational database, accessible through this website.

This approach allows:

- individual records to be traced back to their original source
- additional ecological information — such as life cycles and food plants — to be linked to each species
- the dataset to be expanded and refined over time

This growing dataset provides an increasingly complete picture of the extraordinary biodiversity of North Meadow, supporting both its conservation and wider scientific understanding.

Donate to support our work

17th March 202619th March 2026

Natural England have Closed North Meadow

North Meadow is closed until 9th April to protect the soft ground from irreversible compactaction damage. The flood waters are receeding and the meadow will start to dry weather permiting and hopefully in time to see the fritillaries in April. Check back here for further updates.

The right of way across North Meadow is not affected by the closure notice but it is under water at present see picture above. To avoid trampling damage to the National Nature Reserve it is best not to use this route until the ground conditions improve.

25th October 2025

Harvest Mouse Survey

Great to carry out the first Harvest Mouse survey on North Meadow last week. The survey was led by Gareth Harris Wiltshire County Recorder for mammals. Our volunteer surveyors included Court Leet members, Natural England volunteers and a volunteer from the Wiltshire Mammal Group. October is the start of the survey season as the nests are unlikely to be occupied.

Harvest mice (Micromys minutus) are on the Red List for Britain’s Mammals, the harvest mouse is classified as Near Threatened in Britain. Our survey was prompted in part by harvest mice found during during reserve management work.

This picture was taken while moving 6 harvest mice out of the path of a tractor mowing the meadow last year. Handling harvest mice is normally avoided unless it is necessary to remove them from harm.

We found 18 nests including some fresh still-green nests. Occupied nests were found last month during reserve management work too, so mice are still very active on the site. Harvest mice are clearly doing well on North Meadow.

The Mammal Society launched the National Harvest Mouse Survey across Britain as we do not have good estimates of how many harvest mice there are in the wild, so we really have no idea how bad their situation is or what sort of conservation actions should be put in place.

We are planning to carry out an annual Harvest Mouse Survey on North Meadow to inform conservation on the site.

28th July 2025

Grazing in 2025

Aftermath grazing started on the meadow on Sunday. The sign above is displayed at all North Meadow entrances.

We will be grazing until the Oct/Nov now depending on the amount of grass and meadow conditions (until it floods). The number of animals will increase over the next 2 weeks or so. Court Leet members will be checking the electric fences and pasture pumps daily during grazing.

Aftermath grazing is a vital part of the National Nature Reserve’s management and is, together with the hay crop, the reason why it has such a huge plant diversity of over 250 plant species. The North Meadow grassland habitat is now very rare in the UK which is why it is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the focus of considerable scientific research and conservation effort. North Meadow is one of the best examples in the UK of this habitat (MG4 grassland) and the only one with such a large population of snakes head fritillaries (80% of the UK population).

9th May 2025

VE Day 80th Anniversary

On 8th May 2025, the country marked the historic 80th anniversary of VE Day, celebrating 80 years of peace since the end of Word War II. The High Bailiff of Cricklade Court Leet invited residents of Cricklade to a celebration marking the occasion at Saxons Rest on Thursday 8th May at 8.30pm.

The programme featured The Cricklade Band and Sing 4/4 Community Choir, an act of remembrance by the Royal British Legion and readings by Court Leet Members . The evening concluded with the lighting of the beacon.

The event was a great success and was enjoyed by a large crowd of Cricklade residents.

1st May 2025

Fritillaries have finished flowering

The Fritillaries have finished flowering for this year and the meadow has turned lush and green. The Meadowsweet and Great Burnet are growing fast now and the haze of Cuckoo Flowers visible last week has disappeared.

The meadow is full of birds over 100 species have been recorded on the meadow . This morning I heard or saw Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Cetti’s warbler, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Magpie, Marsh Harrier, Reed warbler, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Wren, Yellow Legged Gull in less than an hour whilst setting up some invertebrate monitoring.

Very noticeable this week are Common Blue Damselflies which have just appeared in large numbers.

The meadow buttercups are just starting to flower and the meadow may soon turn yellow as more come into flower.

When you visit please stay on the marked paths and keep your dog on a short lead to avoid damaging this internationally important wildlife site and disturbing the ground nesting birds.

Many are unaware, but the law says that you must keep your dog on a lead no longer than 2 metres between 1^st March and 31^st July, when on any open access land to protect ground-nesting birds.

Enjoy your visit and look out for the audio trail posts. If you want to find out more about the meadow you can use your mobile phone to click on the QR codes to listen a meadow guide talking about the meadow flora, fauna, history and farming. There is a map of the trail in the main meadow entrance.

3rd April 2025

The Fritillaries are starting to flower

fritillary unopened — Snakes Head Fritillary

Just returned from the meadow. The fritillaries have started flowering but in small numbers most are not yet in flower. The white flowers stand out well at present and they can be seen from the path on the right hand side as you enter from the main gate.

The skylarks can be heard singing as they pair up and build their nests in the grass. Bring your binoculars if you have them as they give a great view of the fritillaries.

Ground conditions are good after the dry weather in March. When you visit please stay on the marked paths and keep your dog on a short lead to avoid damaging this internationally important wildlife site and disturbing the ground nesting birds.

Many are unaware, but the law says that you must keep your dog on a lead no longer than 2 metres between 1^st March and 31^st July, when on any open access land to protect ground-nesting birds.

To see the fritillaries at their best, plan your visit for mid-April and check back here for the latest update on when the fritillaries will reach peak flowering.

27th March 202527th March 2025

Fritillary Season Approaches

Natural England re-opened the meadow on Wednesday. It has been closed to visitors to prevent compaction damage to the soil while ground conditions were soft. The fritillaries look like grass at present and are easily trampled as they are very hard to see. They will not be in flower for another 2 to 3 weeks so it is too early to see them this weekend.

If you do visit please stay on the marked paths and keep your dog on a short lead to avoid damaging this internationally important wildlife site.

Many are unaware, but the law says that you must keep your dog on a lead no longer than 2 metres between 1^st March and 31^st July, when on any open access land to protect ground-nesting birds.

To see the fritillaries at their best, plan your visit for mid-April and check back here for the latest update on when the fritillaries will reach peak flowering.