About the reserve

Weobley Wildlife Meadows were purchased and gifted to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust by Martin and Julie Peacock in 2021 as a legacy to the village and to the county. The meadows already had value to wildlife with thick hedgerows where small birds, and mammals could shelter and a number of grasses and wildflowers recorded within the grassland.

The fields will now be managed as wildflower meadows with areas resown with native wildflowers and grasses. This will attract bees and butterflies and other pollinators and the long grass will provide cover for as small mammals such as voles which, in turn provide prey for birds such as barn owl which we hope to see here in the future.

Each summer, the meadows will be cut for hay and sheep or cows will graze the fields over the winter. In early 2022 the Weobley Wildlife Meadows volunteer team planted an orchard in the field known as ‘nanny Lights Orchard’. While the fruit will provide food for both people and wildlife, older trees provide a range of nesting places for birds and bats and habitat for beetles so, in time, will be a wonderful wildlife habitat too.

The next project is to create a pond – vital for wildlife, especially as so many have been lost from the countryside over recent decades.