Ashleworth Ham

Ashleworth Ham
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A view of the Ham
Location within Gloucestershire
Area of Search	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO833263
Coordinates	51°56′10″N 2°14′38″W / 51.936°N 2.244°W / 51.936; -2.244Coordinates: 51°56′10″N 2°14′38″W / 51.936°N 2.244°W / 51.936; -2.244
Interest	Biological
Area	104.73 hectare
Notification	1974
Natural England website

Ashleworth Ham (grid reference SO833263) is a 104.73-hectare (258.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a large area of grassland on the Severn floodplain, north of Ashleworth in Gloucestershire, England. It is registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and was notified in 1974 and renotified in 1985. Ashleworth Ham received this designation because it is one of three sites in the Severn Vale where migratory waterfowl winter.^[1]^[2]

The site has three units of assessment and is part managed as a nature reserve by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The nature reserve is unit 1 (grid reference SO830265) and is a 45-hectare (110-acre) area. Unit 2 (grid reference SO833261) is a 55-hectare (140-acre) site and unit 3 (grid reference SO829258) is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) site, and are areas to the east of the nature reserve.^[1]^[3]

The site is fen, marsh, swamp lowland, open water ditches, neutral grassland and hedges divide many of the fields.^[1]

Access to the reserve is prohibited in winter, but the birds may be viewed from hides in Meerend Thicket. The Thicket is a steep wooded bank and indicates the former much higher boundary of the Severn. In addition, some parts of the Ham are of special botanical interest.^[4] Meerend Thicket is listed in the ‘Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011’, adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation',' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).^[5]

This part of the Vale, which is aluvium over Lower Lias clay, has been greatly affected by drainage and other agricultural improvements. A public enquiry resulted in the exclusion of the reserve from the Internal Drainage Board scheme.^[4]

Species

Fuller information may be found in the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook.^[4] The wintering wildfowl include wigeon (est. 4000), teal (est. 1500) and mallard (est. 1000) in large numbers. Smaller numbers can be seen of pintail and shoveler. Tufted duck, pochard, goldeneye and great crested and little grebe are amongst the diving birds at peak floods. Regular visitors are Bewick's swan and white-fronted geese. There is a small breeding population of mallard, lapwing, snipe, curlew and redshank. Other breeding species including redstart, grasshopper warbler, sedge warbler, yellow wagtail and reed bunting. The meadows are also used as a feeding ground by many migrants. Snipe are the most common, but whimbrel, green sandpiper, greenshank and ruff may be seen. In some winters up to 4000 fieldfare are present and peregrine falcon and hobby may be seen, these birds being attracted by the small birds.

The reserve flora includes common meadow-rue and great burnet which is typical of old, unimproved neutral meadows. There are a large number of plant types recorded in the wooded bank, fields, and ditches. There is golden dock, trifid bur-marigold, purple loosestrife and several species of sedge.

Conservation

The prime aim is to maintain a good wetland habitat for birds and plants. Thus the control of water levels is essential and two sluices were installed in 1977/78 and a wader scrape was excavated. Grazing does not happen until the young birds have fledged. There is regular polarding of boundary willows. Any polluted silt is cleared.

Publications

Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'

References

1 2 3 Natural England SSSI information on the citation
↑ Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011, adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation', Sites of Special Scientific Interest
↑ Natural England SSSI information on the Ashleworth units
1 2 3 Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al, 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'
↑ Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011, adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation', Key Wildlife Sites

SSSI Source

External links

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
Natural England (SSSI information)

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows
Neighbouring areas Avon Hereford and Worcester Oxfordshire Wiltshire

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