Access over Upper Lugg Meadow is unrestricted but do not walk in the growing hay between late April and July. In winter, the whole area may be flooded to a depth of over 1m. for long periods, and access becomes impossible or distinctly dangerous. Take care when walking near the river as there are vertical cliffs along its banks.

Please note there is NO ACCESS to Lower Lugg Meadow during March to May.

Description

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, and a vital place in our national heritage.

Lugg Meadows are the most important surviving Lammas meadows in the UK, ownership of the meadows being divided amongst many individual people, just as it was in medieval times. The whole system of tenure is a relic of the ancient open field system of agriculture, with each land-holding in the form of either long narrow 'strips' or irregularly shaped 'parcels'. These were marked out on the ground by 'dole stones'. Each year, from February 2nd (Candlemas) to August 1st (Lammas) the meadows are closed or 'shut up for hay', with no grazing permitted. Each owner takes his own crop of hay from his holding, and then the meadows are thrown open for communal grazing by livestock owned by commoners living in the local area. This system of land management has remained unvarying and intact, closely following medieval practices, for almost 1000 years - in stark contrast to the almost annually fluctuating patterns of modern intensive agriculture. Less than 20 Lammas meadows still exist, and Lugg Meadows is the largest and most significant example, representing the original farming enterprise that supported the Norman lords who built Herefordshire's historic churches and castles

Upper and Lower Lugg Meadow 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, carrying a large quantity of silt particles of varying size with it. Larger particles quickly deposit near the river-bank, in time building up low natural levees. Smaller silt particles deposit as the water flow slackens, and build up over the land as fertile layers. This annual enrichment creates an extremely productive soil, which grows a very nutritious, high volume hay crop. So these flood plain meadows were the most highly valued land in the parishes, as they grew the hay needed to feed the plough oxen through the lean winter months.

The grassland on Lugg Meadows is a rich tapestry of over 20 grass species, dominated by Meadow Foxtail, Soft Brome, Red Fescue, Crested Dogstail, and Sweet Vernal Grass. Mixed into this backdrop are found a wide variety of colourful herbaceous plants. These include populations of many species typical of old hay meadows, such as Pepper Saxifrage, three species of buttercup, two hawkbits, Dandelion, Black Knapweed, Lady's Smock, Sorrel and some Yellow Rattle and Ox-eye Daisy. In addition, there are a number of interesting species with a more patchy distribution on the meadow; Meadow Cranesbill, Meadow Saffron, Great Burnet, Adders Tongue and Meadow-Rue.

The two special plants of Lugg Meadows are undoubtedly the delicate and attractive Fritillary and the nationally scarce Narrow-leaved Water Dropwort. Fritillaries are slender, bulbous plants, flowering in early spring, with leaves arranged at intervals up the stem. Although the seed is ripe by June, the plant needs a hay-making regime where the grass is not cut until well into July. By this time, the leaves have re-supplied the underground bulb with food and have died back. Seedlings take 4-5 years to reach flowering size and cannot survive pasture conditions. The Lugg population is unusual in that, although the normal pink/purple chequered form occurs, the majority of flowers are white. The Fritillaries are currently doing well in the reserve, with numbers now over 1500, and the population slowly spreading. The Narrow-leaved Water Dropwort is a distinctive, if less immediately attractive, plant which maintains very large populations over the Upper and Lower Lugg, as well as on Hampton Meadow a little to the south. Its distribution is restricted to old, unimproved flood plain meadows, so less than 20 large populations still survive in Britain, and Lugg Meadows ranks as one of the best.

The great expanses of open grassland are an important breeding habitat for Curlew and Skylark, both of which are in decline in Herefordshire. The evocative bubbling calls of Curlew may be heard both north and south of the A438 road, when the birds first arrive back in early spring, but only two or three pairs stay to nest in the much less disturbed lower part of the meadow.

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.

Throughout its length the Meadow is bounded to the east by the turns and meanders of the rapidly flowing River Lugg, from which it takes its name. The river habitat comprises a number of sub-habitats; the river banks are lined by many Alders and willows, vertical river cliffs occur on the outer banks of meanders, there are patches of rushes and reeds and other emergent vegetation, while the river channel itself contains gravel bars and shelving gravel beaches.

At Lugg Mills at the far north end of the reserve, there is an 8 acre island now owned by HNT, and formed by the confluence of the Lugg and Little Lugg. This island partly floods over in winter and is part meadow/ part scrub vegetation. This variety of riverine habitat supports a different range of species, which greatly add to the value of the adjoining meadows. Kingfishers and Sand Martins breed in the cliff faces, Herons stalk the beaches, while Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings prefer the scrub-overgrown sloping river-banks. Comfrey, Common Toadflax and Purple Loosestrife add colour to the bank-side vegetation. The river itself now has a healthy Otter population and Lugg Mills island provides an important refuge. The unpolluted nature of the river is demonstrated by the presence of over 120 species of river plant (e.g. Water Crowfoot) plus two red algal pollution indicators, together with White-clawed Crayfish and the rare Pea Mussel. During mid-summer large numbers of the very attractive Banded Demoiselle damselfly and other dragonflies may be seen along the river banks.

Part of Lower Lugg Meadow owned by HNT is known by the curious name 'the Swilley Swathes'. It consists of a long thin strip alongside the river together with two larger parcels of grassland at either end. Most of the Lower Lugg Meadow falls in the parish of Tupsley but the thin river strip (Swilley Swath) lies in Lugwardine parish. How Lugwardine assumed control of this strip is not known, but it has an interesting historical significance. The strip was originally no wider than one scythe cut, and was traditionally always cut first. The cut hay was carried away so that the way was then clear for strip owners (with strips butting up to the Swilley Swath at right angles) to cut and carry away their crop without trampling on their neighbours' hay. As machinery supplanted the scythe, the Swilley Swath has become much wider, but the same medieval practice is still followed today. The word 'Swilley' means a ditch-like depression which carries away flood-water; one of these still forms the boundary between Lugwardine and Tupsley parishes.

As the present interest and wildlife value of Lugg Meadows is due to its long continuity of traditional management practices, HNT has no plans to change these. The Trust has also continued the ancient tradition of strip marking by erecting several new dole stones marked 'HNT 1994' to denote the position of their strips. When the hay has been cut and removed, the commoners still hold a meeting to decide on what date grazing animals should be allowed back onto the meadow.

Part of the Meadow and the whole of the River Lugg are designated as a SSSI by Natural England in recognition of their wildlife importance.

HNT purchased its first parcel of strips in 1983. Further parcels were acquired in 1985 and 1989. These parcels were bought with funds from Hereford & Worcester CC., Laings Charitable Trust via WWF, National Heritage Memorial Fund, Nature Conservancy Council and many other generous donors. The Swilley Swathes on the Lower Lugg were acquired in 1998 with funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Herefordshire Conservation Development Trust (HCDT) and the Alan Evans Memorial Trust. The 10 acres of island and meadowland at Lugg Mills in Upper Lugg Meadow were purchased in April 2001 with further funds from HLF and HCDT.