Empingham Marshy Meadow

Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary

Getting There

Two public footpaths cross the site, starting from Main Street/Grantham Lane.

Status

Site of Special Scientific Interest

Crossed by public footpaths.

Wild places

Total species seen at this site:

Description

This site is located just north of Empingham village. It contains calcareous grassland, marsh, woodland, open water, springs and streams on Upper and Lower Lincolnshire Oolitic limestone. It is a SSSI (notified for base-rich marsh and fen) and covers 14.53 ha.

Wildlife Highlights

Situated on an east facing slope, the upper zone does not appear to be species-rich, but towards the bottom the sward becomes much more varied, containing plants such as Hoary Plantain Plantago media, Quaking-grass Briza media, Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule, Adder’s-tongue Ophioglossum vulgatum, Cowslip Primula veris, Salad Burnet Poterium sanguisorba and Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio. Below this grassland is a fine base-rich marsh, the best of its type remaining in Leicestershire and Rutland. Species present include Flat-sedge Blysmus compressus, Early Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata, Southern Marsh-orchid D. praetermissa, Common Spotted-orchid D. fuchsii, Hybrid Orchid D. x grandis, Whorl-grass Catabrosa aquatica, Distant Sedge Carex distans, Marsh-marigold Caltha palustris and Ragged-robin Silene flos-cuculi.

 

The records and images below may include those from adjacent sites if the grid reference submitted with these records overlaps the boundary of this Wild Place.

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