Harnham Water Meadows field trip

By way of a sharp contrast with Hambledon Hill, our next Field Trip was to water meadows that occupy 84 acres of beautiful and historic – but flat - land south west of Salisbury.

Debbie Carter, the organiser, reported, 'We had a great trip to Harnham Water Meadows yesterday in brilliant sunshine.  We had an excellent and informed guide in Hadrian Cook and there were, I think, 17  TNHS members including two young boys.'  

The  Harnham Water Meadows Trust, formed in 1990, has worked to restore and preserve this internationally important heritage site, probably the best known meadow irrigation system in England.  Hadrian Cook, a member of the Trust’s team of volunteers guided us and talked us through the history of the meadows and their influence on the flora and fauna of the surrounding area.  He also explained the role of the Drowner, whose responsibility is to maintain an even flow with irrigation events typically lasting for time periods between three days and one week.   

Thanks to Andrew Carter for these photos of the Cathedral, Harnham Mill and the Drowner's daughter's poem.

You can read about the history of the Harnham Water Meadows here.

The Trust has announced that the meadows are now open to pre-arranged guided tours. If you would like to arrange a visit, please get in touch via e-mail, or our Social Media pages or via [email protected].