Half hidden behind high hedges off a country road in the north west corner of the county of Shropshire, Melverley Farm is a small working farm of 47 acres of traditional hay meadow and pastureland. The patchwork pattern of its small odd shaped fields may have been created straight from the original woodland clearances, which probably started in the mid 16th Century. The high, thick hedgerows between the fields are what is left today of that woodland.

Under the grass the patterns made by 19th Century horse drawn ploughs when the fields were once used to grow crops can still be seen. An early change to pastoral farming preserved the ridges and furrows under the meadows before they could be flattened by later ploughing methods. ¹

In the hay meadows the grasses and other plants are left to grow until being cut, once, in summer, spread on the field to dry, then gathered into hay bales for animal feed. Many plants, insects and birds are adapted to this cycle. In fields which have been traditionally used for hay, like Melverley's, the number of species present builds up. The traditional hay meadow is defined by its great diversity of native grasses and plants.

The UK Biodiversity Steering Group (1995) made conservation of traditional hay meadows ², old hedgerows and ponds a priority. Melverley Farm has all three of these habitats. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)³ and is of national importance for its meadows. In the UK 98% of traditional hay meadows have disappeared in the last half of the 20th Century with the change to more intensive farming practices ⁴ . On Melverley traditional low intensity farming has led to a rare and fragile habitat that has taken centuries to create. The hay meadows, hedgerows, trees and ponds are rich in plants, animals, birds and insects.

Melverley's plants, butterflies and moths.

In Melverley's meadows 150 species of herbs and grasses have been found. Some of these are typical old hay meadow plants, many with names that are a reminder that they are a part of the country's history, such as:

• Dyers greenweed; a characteristic plant of ancient meadows, was used for a yellow dye. A use that goes back to the 14th Century. Combining the dye with blue woad made a colour which became known as Kendal green.
• Spiny restharrow; a small, pink flowered plant, whose tough stems once stopped the harrow in its tracks.
• White flowered Sneezewort; used in the middle ages for toothache and stuffy heads. The smell was said to be enough to cause sneezing but, failing that, it was powdered and stuffed up the nose.
• Yellow rattle; colouring the hay meadows yellow in spring. So called because of its rattling seed pods, it is partially parasitic on grass which helps keep the grasses under control, leaving room for other herbs to grow.
• Sorrel; popular in Tudor times for flavouring, it was used by Henry Vlll's cooks. It would have been added where lemon juice might be today.

Melverley's thick hedgerows of full grown trees and shrubs are a tangle of oak, ash and willow, hawthorn and holly, blackthorn, elder, crabapple, bramble, dog roses and honeysuckle. A haven for birds and small mammals.

The variety of plant life supports a myriad of insects. 19 species of butterfly and 82 species of moths have been counted. Significant among the butterflies, for Shropshire, is the ringlet. The moths include the common carpet, green pug, shoulder striped wainscot, the five spot burnet and small fan-footed wave. Like the plants they're worth preserving just for their names.

Management and Location

The farm stayed within the hands of one family from at least the mid 16th Century until 1995 when it was bought by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust after the death of the gentleman who had farmed it using the old ways. Overseen by the Trust, the farm is now run by a tenant farmer maintaining traditional low input low output farming practices. These avoid the high levels of soil disturbance, fertiliser and herbicide which most of the native grasses and plants cannot tolerate. It also avoids using cultivated high yield grass species with which native species cannot compete and which provides little in the way of food for many insects.

Without some management, grazing and mowing, meadows like these would become overgrown with scrub. Although most of the meadow species don't depend on being cut, Yellow Rattle, a significant plant at Melverley, benefits from the distribution of its seeds in the process of hay making. Melverley Farm is a case where conservation requires continued cultivation. The meadows are cut in July and grazed over winter, the pastures are grazed through the year but left to grow in summer.

Location

Melverley Farm is just north of the village of Ash, in Shropshire, on the road past Ash Church leading to the section of the A525 which joins Whitchurch and Nantwich. There is no open public access as it is a working farm. But it can be seen from this road and from a public footpath running along the farm's northern boundary. Travelling from Ash towards the A525, Melverley stretches along the righthand side of the road from the first right hand turn off after the church to the next public footpath sign. The Shropshire Wildlife Trust occasionally organise walks round the farm.

Botannical/Scientific names of species mentioned.

• Herbs; Yellow rattle - Rhinanthus minor, Dyers greenweed - Genista tinctoria, Spiny restharrow - Ononis spinosa, Sneezewort - Achillea ptarmica, Sorrel - Rumex acetosa, Vetch - group of plants from the Leguminosae family, Common spotted orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Ragged robin - Lychnis flos-cuculi , Lady's smock (Cuckoo flower , Milkmaid) - Cardamine pratensis.
• Trees and shrubs; English Oak - Quercus robur, Ash - Fraxinus excelsior, Willow - Salix, Hawthorn (May-tree, Whitethorn) - Crategegus monogyna, Holly - Ilex aquifolium, Blackthorn (Sloe) - Prunus spinosa, Elder - Sambucus nigra, Crabapple - Malus sylvestris, Bramble (Blackberry) - Rubus fruticosus, Dog rose - Rosa canina, Honeysuckle (Woodbine) - Lonicera periclymenum.
• Moths; Ringlet - Aphantopus hyperantus, Common Carpet - Epirrhoe alternata, Green Pug - Chloroclystis rectangula, Shoulder-striped Wainscot - Mythimna comma, Five spot burnet - Zygaena trifolii, Small Fan-footed Wave - Idaea biselata.