article it has suffered from a lack of suitable management in the past, specifically the
ability to secure appropriate grazing. However, in 2008 Basildon District Council entered
the grassland into Natural England's Higher Level Scheme, which will provide financial
support for management over the next 10 years.
Hadleigh and Benfleet Downs (part of the Benfleet & Southend marshes SSSI)
As well as offering some spectacular views across the Thames estuary the downs at
Hadleigh Castle Country Park support some of the finest remaining examples of Thames-
foothill vegetation. Despite decades of scrub encroachment following the demise of
traditional grazing in the 1950s, the special plants - that prompted the late Ted Lousley
to describe the site as one of the finest grasslands in eastern England - can still be found.
These include many nationally rare species such as, field garlic Allium oleraceum,
Deptford pink Dianthus armeria, Bithynian vetch Vicia bithynica, hairy Vetchling
Lathyrus hirsutus, and hartwort Tordylium maximum.
Unfortunately, since Lousley's time the areas of open grassland have shrunken
considerably. Park's staff have kept open the remaining areas of grassland as best they
can with flail, mower and cattle, but in 2007 more drastic measure were taken. With
support from the Veolia ES Cleanaway Pitsea Marshes Trust, 5ha of scrub will be removed
from the downs as part of a 10 year project aimed at restoring open grassland. After only
2 years work, initial results are positive with cleared areas relatively quickly developing
an interesting flora.
Jury Hill and Oxley Meadows
Continuing the positive news, I am aware of two other exciting projects which are helping
restore and create species-rich grassland. The first represents the culmination of a long-
running effort to return Jury Hill in Thorndon Country Park back to grassland. In 2002
the species-rich turf, with historic records for dyers greenweed Genista tinctoria, had
almost disappeared under decades of scrub growth. The project, led by Neil Bruce of
the Park's ranger service, has used a combination of goats, sheep and cattle to successfully
remove hawthorn, blackthorn and bramble and a survey in 2008 indicated that plants
such as spiny rest-harrow Ononis spinosa, pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus and wild
basil Clinopodium vulgare are all more abundant than they were in 2002.
The second project, took place at Oxley Meadow EWT reserve one of our most colourful
grasslands, and well worth a visit in May to see the thousands of green-winged orchids
flowering above an equally impressive understorey of adder's tongue-fern. In June this
year EWT staff moved 'green-hay' from Oxley to a field at Fingrinhoe Wick reserve with
similar soils and grass-species, but which had lost most of its herbaceous interest due to
past agriculture use. It remains to be seen whether this experiment will create another
'Oxley meadow', but experience from other counties suggest this is a sensitive way to
create new areas of species-rich grassland without the need for expensive seed mixes whose
provenance cannot be guaranteed, and the results of which often look and feel 'artificial'.
I am sure there are many more examples of positive (as well as some negative!) action
occurring upon our species-rich grasslands, and I would be glad to hear about them big
or small.
16 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 57, September 2008