About the reserve

Although we’ve lost around 97% of our wildflower meadows in England since the 1940s, floodplain meadows are even rarer. Those that remain total an area of only 3,500 acres – the footprint of Heathrow Airport. In this quiet and often forgotten corner of Worcestershire, Hardwick Green Meadows represents almost 2% of all such meadows left in the UK and are of both national and international importance.

In 2017 we launched a public appeal and worked with funding bodies including Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Severn Waste Services to save these magnificent meadows.

Hardwick Green Meadows are rich in plants such as great burnet, pepper saxifrage and corky-fruited dropwort. This rich flora creates habitats for insects including butterflies such as meadow browns and marbled whites.

The meadows and hedges are important habitats for a range of birds including blackcaps, reed buntings, cuckoos, common and lesser whitethroats. Barn owls have been seen hunting the many small mammals that are found on the reserve. Otters have been filmed on the brooks that run through the site.

Bigger, better and more joined up

We’re working towards a Worcestershire that is bigger, better and more connected for wildlife to thrive and for people to lead happier and healthier lives. We already own the nearby Marshlands Meadow, which adjoins the much larger (privately-owned) Burley Dene SSSI; together they are a stone’s throw over the M50 from our Hill Court Farm nature reserve, connected by the Eldersfield Brook as part of the historic Longdon and Eldersfield Marsh complex.

With thanks to...

The generous support of our members and the public
The Heritage Lottery Fund
Severn Waste Services through the Severn Waste Environmental Fund
The Banister Trust
Tim Carter & Anne Spurgeon
Rowlands Charitable Trust
HDH Wills Charitable Trust
Alan Evans Memorial Fund