Butterwick Meadows

Also within

Cumbria County LAKE DISTRICT National Park

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Northern hay meadow

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Description This site comprises four meadows all of which support a diverse and abundant herb and grass flora characteristic of a rare northern hay meadow vegetation type. Situated near the edge of the valley floor at around 700 feet OD, the land slopes predominantly to the east but with individual fields sloping gently and/or steeply to the north east or southwest. The north eastern field formed from combining three fields is not known to have ever been ploughed but the remainder were ploughed at least in part during the war years. Previous history and differences in current management regimes are reflected in the species composition of the fields, although all are clearly derived from and show most affinity to, the National Vegetation Classification type known as the sweet vernal grass wood cranesbill hay meadow. All fields are dominated by a mixture of crested dog's tail Cynosurus cristatus, bents Agrostis capillaris, fescues Festuca rubra and cuckoo-flower Dactylis glomerata, with a good representation of other grass species including sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, golden oat grass Trisetum flavescens, rough stalked meadow grass Poa trivialis and Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus. Rye grass Lolium perenne is at low frequency over much of the area but is locally dominant. Hairy oat grass Avenula pubescens occurs in one of the fields. The hay crop is colourful with an abundance of sheep sorrel Rumex acetosella, plantain Plantago lanceolata, meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris and yellow rattle Rhinanthus minorwith local abundance of greater burnet Sanguisorba officinalis, cat's ear Hypochaeris radicata and oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare. Wood crane's bill Geranium sylvaticum which is normally a constant of this vegetation type is abundant in one field, locally well represented in another and only sparsely present in the others which are more grass dominated with a good representation of cock's foot. Other well represented herb species within the fields include bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus, pignut Conopodium majus, red clover Trifolium pratense, hardhead Centaurea nigra, eyebright Euphrasia agg. and more locally betony Betonica officinalis and lady's mantle Alchemilla glabra. Additional, largely edge species, include crosswort Cruciata laevipes, vetches Vicia sepium, violets Viola riviniana and bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta. Previous history and differences in current management regimes are reflected in the species composition of the fields. The north eastern field formed from combining three fields is not known to have ever been ploughed and consequently the hay meadow type is similar to traditionally managed Pennine Dales Old Meadows. The remaining fields were ploughed at least, in part, during the war years and this appears to have contributed to modifying the flora towards more grass dominated swards.

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.

Plant communities