Bray Meadows

Also within

Berkshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Alluvium

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Description This is a series of species rich, agriculturally unimproved meadows adjacent to a side channel of the River Thames near Maidenhead. The meadows support a very uncommon type of grassland with a distinctive flora which is particularly characteristic of the calcareous alluvium of the lower Thames flood plain. The site represents one of a very small number of remaining examples of this grassland type which has been largely lost through urban development and agricultural improvement. The meadows have a particularly high diversity of plants including both calcicoles and damp meadow species and several locally uncommon species are present. Ant hills are frequent in one of the fields. Typical meadow plants such as yarrow Achillea millefolium, black knapweed Centaurea nigra, bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus and oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare are common throughout the fields. There are also patches of yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor, adder’s tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum, meadow saxifrage Saxifraga granulata and the locally uncommon rest-harrow Ononis repens. The calcareous nature of the soil is indicated by the occurrence of salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba, hoary plantain Plantago media, burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga, downy oat grass Avenula pubescens, rough hawkbit Leontodon hispidus, lady’s bedstraw Galium verum, quaking grass Briza media, bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus and yellow oat grass Trisetum flavescens. The presence of calcicoles such as these in alluvial meadows is an extremely rare feature in Berkshire. There are also some typical damp meadow plants such as meadow barley Hordeum secalinum, lesser stitchwort Stellaria graminea and meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria. The riverside vegetation along the western margin of the fields includes the nationally scarce greater dodder Cuscuta europaea, a parasitic plant which is particularly characteristic of the lower Thames.

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