Swallowfield Meadow is a Local Nature Reserve in

Swallowfield Swallowfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Wokingham district, in Berkshire, England, about south of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, and north of the county boundary with Hampshire. The civil parish of Swallowfield al ...

, south of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It is owned and managed by Swallowfield Parish Council.

Geography and site

The reserve features meadows, native hedgerows, a small copse, ditches, and seasonal ponds as well as the meadows themselves.

History

The area that is now the meadow was transferred to the Parish Council in the mid-1990s when houses were being built in the village. Before then the area had been a coal yard. On 15 July 2003, the area was officially designated as a Local Nature Reserve.

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:

Mammals

European water vole The European water vole (''Arvicola amphibius'') or northern water vole is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep bro ...

Flora

The site has the following flora:

Trees

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Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

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Acer campestre ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native plant, native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mou ...

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Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch tree, birch family Betulaceae. The shrubs usually grow tall. The nut is round, in contrast to the longer Corylus maxima, filbert nut. Common hazel is native to E ...

Plants

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Leucanthemum vulgare ''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, and an introduced ...

'' *'' Knautia arvensis''

References

{{Local Nature Reserves in Berkshire Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Nature reserves in Berkshire Local Nature Reserves in Berkshire Swallowfield