Reserves

Charfield Meadow

Grid ref: 717 936 / Area: 11.5 hectares

Charfield Meadow sits alongside a railway line in South Gloucestershire. This small and peaceful reserve is full of a surprising number of flowering plants.

How to get there
We encourage visitors to use environmentally friendly forms of transport wherever possible. Most of our reserves are easily accessible by bicycle, with many close to the National Cycle Network. Click here to view a location map of the reserve on the National Cycle Network website.

Alternatively, from Junction 14 on the M5, take the B4509 road for Charfield and then on to Huntingford. Limited parking available by the railway bridge - follow road to the gate.

Access
Parking very limited - not recommended for large groups. During times of grazing please do not disturb the animals.

Wildlife and conservation
Sheltered on most sides by hedges and scrub, Charfield Meadow is a very quiet and secluded reserve. In springtime the grassland is a mass of cowslips and forget-me-nots, but in later months, dyer's greenweed, betony and saw-wort come into flower, adding daubs of colour. Throughout the summer, large numbers of butterflies take advantage of the sheltered, flower-rich meadows. Orange-tips and brimstones are among the first to be seen, but later in the year look out for ringlets and meadow browns.

A small wet flush can be traced running through the middle of the reserve, with its own special plantlife - look out for ragged robin and sneezewort.

The land will be grazed to prevent the meadows from becoming overgrown with scrub.

Further information
The land was sold to the Trust in 1988 by British Rail.