About the reserve

This is an urban reserve just off the A45, and its marshy grassland is home to such a tremendous diversity of wildlife that it falls within the Nene Valley Special Protection Area. We manage the reserve on behalf of Northants County Council. 

The site contains locally rare seminatural wetland habitats, which include wet grassland, marginal vegetation and fen/swamp communities, river backwaters, ponds, reedbed, willow scrub and mature hedgerows. There plenty of wintering birds on site, and interesting plants; this is one of the few sites in Northamptonshire known for pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), a nationally rare member of the mint family. It is also an excellent spot for invertebrates – more than 400 species have been recorded here.

To manage Abington Meadows, we graze the meadow with cattle to help maintain the structure of the grass sward, and regularly cut back scrub and willow.  

Additional information

• Scroll down to see the reserve boundary. Please note the boundary map is for indication purposes only and does not show the Wildlife Trusts definitive land boundary. 

FOR ANY MEDIA ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM:   communicationsteam@wildlifebcn.org or 01954 713500 and ask for comms team.