| Barrington Hill Meadows | |
| Aos: | Somerset |
| Interest: | Biological |
| Coordinates: | 50.9482°N -2.9978°W |
| Displaymap: | Somerset |
| Area: | 16.1ha |
| Enref: | 1002546 |
Barrington Hill Meadows is a 16.1 hectare (39.5 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England, notified in 1987.
Barrington Hill Meadows, 2 km west of the A358, midway between the villages of Windmill Hill and Bickenhall, is an English Nature national nature reserve.[1]
This site comprises four meadows surrounded by well established hedges on gently sloping clay-rich soils. It is an outstanding example of a traditionally managed unimproved neutral grassland of a type now rare in Britain. Additional interest lies in the occurrence of an extremely rare grass species. The meadows belong to a type characterised by the widespread occurrence of Sweet Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus),Cowslip (Primula veris) and Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio). A total of 74 different species have so far been recorded. This site is one of only 3 localities in Britain in which the grass Gaudinia fragilis is a prominent feature of the sward.[2]