At the end of 2012, HRH The Prince of Wales suggested a nationwide project to create a meadow in every county across the UK to mark the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
60 meadows have been identified; this includes Wood Lane Roadside Nature Reserve near Long Stratton in Norfolk. This small yet important site supports a range of threatened species typical of south Norfolk boulder clay grasslands. These include the nationally scarce sulphur clover – a species now largely restricted to road verges in south Norfolk – as well as pyramidal orchid, pepper saxifrage and lesser bird’s foot trefoil.
The Coronation Meadows project has three aims:
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The first, the identification of a Coronation Meadow in each county, will be completed by the end of the Coronation year – there are candidates for nearly all of them, and there will be 107 in total.
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The second stage is to identify sites within each county where green hay and seed from the Coronation Meadow can be used to restore or recreate new meadows, so fulfilling HRH’s original vision.
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The final part of the project is perhaps the most ambitious – to map the UK’s remaining meadows. No such inventory currently exists (neither government nor conservation organisation has this information) but, with the help of the public, we hope to identify all the small pockets of flower-rich meadows that remain.
Prince Charles said: “This year, we are celebrating my mother’s coronation so surely there is no better moment to end this destruction and to stimulate a new mood to protect our remaining meadows and to use them as springboards for the restoration of other sites and the creation of new meadows right across the UK.’
Conservation Officer for Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Helen Baczkowska said: “The boulder clay grasslands are a crucial element of the Claylands Living Landscape and are close to my heart as a local resident and botanist. This meadow, which dates back to at least 1944, is a good example of the habitat and of why many people and organisations are asking councils to manage meadows better for wildlife. Creating new sites for threatened meadow species in less vulnerable locations has been something Norfolk Wildlife Trust has been hoping to achieve for some years.”
The Coronation Meadows Project is a partnership between Plantlife, the Wildlife Trusts and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. HRH The Prince of Wales is patron of all three charities. Find out more at: www.coronationmeadows.org.uk