Sutton Meadows

Also within

Dorset County Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs Scenic Area

Condition (Natural England)

Description

Area, 4.6 ha. 11.4 ac. Description These meadows which lie on drift deposits over London Clay, have been subject to many years of traditional management for hay. In consequence, they support a rich community of plants typical of damp neutral to mildly acid hay meadows. This type of grassland, once widespread, is now very uncommon due to agricultural improvement. As a result of local variations in wetness and acidity, the plant communities of these meadows show considerable variety. A range of grasses occurs including perennial rye grass Lolium perenne, common bent Agrostis capillaris, sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, tufted hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa, heath grass Danthonia decumbens and quaking grass Briza media. The sedges Carex hirta, Carex flacca, C. panicea and Carex leporina and the rushes Juncus effusus and J. articulatus are frequent. Among the uncommon flowering plants are dyer's greenweed Genista tinctoria, pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus, sneezewort Achillea ptarmica, bitter vetch Lathyrus montanus and corky fruited water dropwort Oenanthe pimpinelloides. There are many other attractive herbs including saw wort Serratula tinctoria, creeping Jenny Lysimachia nummularia, devil's bit Succisa pratensis, yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor, oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, spotted orchids Dactylorhiza spp. and in the wetter areas ragged-robin Silene flos-cuculi, meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria and meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum. A small pond in the south of the Dorset Naturalists' Trust Reserve holds starwort Callitriche sp., reedmace Typha latifolia and spike rush Eleocharis palustris. The fauna of the site has not been exhaustively studied but the meadows are bounded by hedges or woodland which provide shelter and add diversity of structure valuable to a wide range of insects and nesting birds.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.