In the 1990s, Norfolk established Roadside Nature Reserves (RNRs) to protect and enhance diverse plant communities along our waysides. These RNRs hold some of the last remnants of Norfolk’s natural grasslands, that would have been widespread prior to agricultural intensification from the 1940’s onwards. They have preserved unique assemblages of plants including nationally scarce species like sulphur clover, dyers greenweed and spiny restharrow. These in turn support populations of invertebrates, birds, reptiles and mammals. Being linear in nature they provide perfect habitat corridors through the countryside, linking areas of importance for wildlife.
Figure 1. Market Lane, Roadside Nature Reserve, Shotesham. Image © Henry Walker
Wildflower meadows are one of the most threatened habitats in the UK, having declined by more than 95% in Norfolk since 1945, they are vulnerable to being damaged through neglect and inappropriate management.
For nearly 20 years Norfolk Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) have been working in partnership with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) & Norfolk Country Council (NCC) who look after the RNRs, by finding landowners with suitable sites, willing to restore these plant communities on new areas of land. Last year the NCC increased the number of RNRs from 111 to 300!
Together with the Norfolk Flora Group and NWT, Norfolk FWAG started a project in 2008 to expand the population Sulphur Clover (Trifolium ochroleucon) beyond its then restricted range, confined to RNRs. We have been actively involved with the management of RNRs and using “Green Hay” in South Norfolk ever since.
The project utilises RNRs as a source of wildflower seed to restore lowland meadow habitat to suitable sites on nearby farmland. The RNRs have preserved some of the best fragments of boulder clay grassland in South Norfolk and provide an important stronghold for the nationally scarce Sulphur Clover.
Figure 2. Sulphur Clover on Back Heywood Lane, Burston. Image © Henry Walker
By utilising the valuable seed source preserved in our RNRs we are working to expand these rare local plant communities on to new sites. Because they have developed over such a long time, they are perfectly suited to the local soils and support our farm wildlife right through the year, so much more effectively than seed mixtures out of a packet. These RNRs have plants in flower in any week of the year, from February to November and so provide a lifeline for bees and other pollinators.
‘Green hay’ is cut when seed has ripened in the flower heads but has yet to drop. The seed will have greater genetic variety than any bought seed mix ensuring prolonged flowering times and greater resilience.
Figure 3. Martin Plane cutting Roadside Nature Reserve & green hay being raked up . Image © Henry Walker
We worked with landowners to find receptor sites on very similar soil types to increase the chance of the seeds germinating. Hay is cut and transported to the new sites within a couple of hours to maintain the viability of the seed. It is then spread thinly and evenly on lightly cultivated grassland or margins, then rolled to ensure soil seed contact.
Figure 4. Strewing green hay on lightly cultivated ground on receptor site, Fir Grove, Wreningham. This site became Norfolk’s Coronation Meadow Image © Henry Walker
In 2013, to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, HRH King Charles initiated the Coronation Meadows Project to protect the remaining meadows and create new wildflower meadows across the UK. Project partners Plantlife and the Wildlife Trust chose Wood Lane RNR and Garden Meadow at Fir Grove to be Norfolk’s Coronation Meadows.
With the Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Connecting Clayland’s project we have held Meadow Days for community groups and landowners for several years, explaining the restoration and management techniques we have tried and tested over the years.
Figure 5. Sarah Cunningham, FWAG advisor collecting wildflower seeds from a Roadside Nature reserve
Now in 2025, 12 years on Plantlife are revisiting every county to see how each Coronation Meadow has developed. We are pleased to report that we are finding new species every year we survey, and the diversity is spreading across the meadows at Fir Grove and beyond.
We are keen to keep this project going each year, to develop new meadows at different sites across the county. So, if you have an area of grassland you’d like to restore, or even arable land you are taking out of production, get in touch to see if we can find a donor site near by to be used as a local seed source. We are also looking for funders, as it is always a struggle to find the money need to support this work- so if this is a project you would like to support with any contribution large or small, by volunteering or donations, please contact us.
