Court House Meadows: Meon Valley water meadow is bought by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to provide sanctuary for wildlife
A nature sanctuary will be created in a Hampshire water meadow which has been acquired by a wildlife trust
A 21-acre water meadow and its wildlife will be protected after being bought by a wildlife trust.
Court House Meadows is a water meadow through which a chalk stream runs. It is home to water voles, overwintering wading birds such as snipe, amphibians including newts, dragonflies, and brown trout, plus many more.
Chalk streams - such as the Rover Meon in Hampshire, which flows through Court House Meadows - are rare and generally have clean water because chalk is permeable. This means they can often support an abundance of wildlife. There only about 200 chalk streams in the world, and 80 per cent of them are in southern England. The River Meon is often cited as the best example of a chalk stream in the country.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, which has acquired Court House Meadows, says that water meadows are a threatened habitat across Hampshire and the UK, and “they form an important part of the county’s natural heritage”.
Court House Meadows is in the Meon Valley, just south of West Meon village. It will be managed to support wildlife. It will not be open to the public in order to protect the habitat.
John Durnell, senior director of operations at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: “Securing Court House Meadows is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect an ecologically important site in the heart of the Meon Valley. With restoration work possible on both the land and the River Meon, this rare chalk stream site will be able to flourish, help restore the floodplain to a more natural state, strengthen wildlife connections in the surrounding area, and create a space where species can thrive again.
“We can give space back to species including our much-loved water vole, whose habitat has dramatically declined, which makes sites like this so crucial for their survival. I am deeply grateful to our partners and trust members and supporters who made this possible. Their support is directly contributing to this land functioning more naturally for wildlife.”
The acquisition has been made possible thanks to support from the South Downs National Park Authority and the South Downs Trust alongside pledges from local supporters, and an overwhelming response to the trust’s public fundraising appeal which received more than 1,000 donations from trust members and the local community.
The new site adds to the trust’s landholding in the Meon Valley, contributing to a more resilient landscape by adding to a network of other nearby trust-owned sites, including St Clair’s Meadow, Bere Copse, Shutts Copse, and Chappetts Copse Nature Reserves. To find out more click here.