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Long Herdon Meadow
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location	Buckinghamshire
Grid reference	SP648202
Interest	Biological
Area	4.5 hectares
Notification	1985
Location map	Magic Map

Long Herdon Meadow is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Marsh Gibbon in Buckinghamshire.^[1]^[2] It is part of Upper Ray Meadows nature reserve, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.^[3]

The site is an alluvial meadow next to the River Ray in the Vale of Aylesbury. It has clay soil and is liable to flooding. A regime of a hay cut followed by cattle grazing, without the use of artificial fertilisers, has resulted in a diverse grassland habitat now rare in England. Herbs include meadow buttercup, lesser knapweed and devil's bit scabious. Ditches and the riverbank provide a permanently wet habitat, encouraging wading birds such as snipe and curlew. Invertebrates include damselflies.^[1]

There is access from the Bernwood Jubilee Way between Marsh Gibbon and the A41 road, adjacent to the River Ray.

References

^ ^a ^b "Long Herdon Meadow citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
^ "Map of Long Herdon Meadow". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
^ "Upper Ray Meadows". Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 20 March 2016.