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Lugg Meadows Nature Reserve

Lugg Meadows are the largest and most important surviving Lammas meadows in the UK; ownership of the meadows being divided amongst many individual people, just as it was in mediaeval times. The great expanses of Upper and Lower Lugg Meadow are unique in Herefordshire, not just for their sheer size, but also because they are living survivors of a land tenure and farming economy system which has long since disappeared elsewhere. These ancient hay meadows, whose records date back to the time of the Domesday Book, therefore have great ecological and historical significance.

The Lugg Meadows lie on rich alluvial soils with at least a metre of gravel below, thus ensuring rapid drainage. In winter, rain and snowfalls swell the river until it bursts its banks and floods westwards across the meadows. This annual enrichment creates an extremely productive soil, which grows a very nutritious, high volume hay crop. 

Wildlife highlights: The great expanses of open grassland are an important breeding habitat for Curlew and Skylark, both of which are in decline in Herefordshire. In times of winter flood the meadows become a huge and spectacular lake, which is highly attractive to roosting gulls and visiting winter wildfowl, including both wild swans, grey geese, and surface-feeding duck like Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and Mallard. Birds of prey like Peregrine and Merlin may be seen hunting over the meadows at this time. In spring and autumn, migrant waders like Greenshank, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Lapwing and Common Sandpiper use the muddy pools and runnels to rest and feed before resuming their journeys. Otters, kingfishers, herons and sand martins frequent the river, and a wide variety of damselflies and dragonflies can be seen.

Location: The Lugg Meadows lie both sides of the A438 on the eastern edge of Hereford. There is parking at the Herefordshire Nature Trust HQ at Lower House Farm (HR1 1UT). There are several footpaths across the meadows, but they can be flooded for many weeks in winter, and there are restrictions in the spring

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