Managing for nature at Barnwell Meadows

The land surrounding the Leper Chapel is also owned by Cambridge PPF. Barnwell Junction Pastures (also known as Barnwell Meadows) City Wildlife Site and was the site of the medieval Stourbridge Fair which was the largest fair in Europe at one point and took place on the site for 800 years. It was revived by Cambridge PPF in 2004.

The 4 acres of meadows support a range of neutral grassland plant and invertebrate species, including a good population of Yellow Meadow Ant. Coldham's Brook flows along the side of the meadows supporting aquatic species including Water Vole and occasionally Kingfisher. There are smaller areas of woodland and scrub.

The Meadows were leased for around 60 years and most recently used for horse pasture, as a result they were not in good ecological condition. As part of a new Chisholm Trail project, in 2018 we took back the management of the meadows and we are working to enhance their biodiversity. Since then we have planted 300m of new hedge, installed bird boxes and re-instigated meadow management (grazing with livestock). The new Chisholm Trail runs through the meadows.