Merries Farm Meadows

Also within

Worcestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: River Terrace · Geological Period: Triassic

Landscape processes: Fluvial, Glacial

Description

Description Merries Farm Meadows are situated in south Worcestershire on level ground near Castlemorton. These two meadows lie in the central plain of the Severn Valley on river terrace glacial deposits of sand and gravel overlying Mercia Mudstones of the Triassic Period. The special interest of the site lies in the diversity of the semi natural mesotrophic neutral grassland sward characterised by crested dog’s tail Cynosurus cristatus and common knapweed Centaurea nigra. The meadows exhibit areas characteristic of the meadow vetchling Lathyrus pratensis sub community in the western field, while the lady’s bedstraw Galium verum sub community is also found in the eastern meadow. Characteristic herbs of the meadow vetchling sub community include pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus, common bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, tormentil Potentilla erecta and meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria. Frequent grasses are sheep’s fescue Festuca ovina and yellow oat grass Trisetum flavescens, with hairy sedge Carex hirta. The lady’s bedstraw sub community has frequent yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor, betony Betonica officinalis, devil’s bit scabious Succisa pratensis, agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria and common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii. Locally uncommon species present in these meadows are green winged orchid Anacamptis morio, adder’s tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum and dyer’s greenweed Genista tinctoria. The two meadows are surrounded by mature hawthorn Crataegus monogyna hedges with blackthorn Prunus spinosa and pedunculate oak Quercus robur.

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