Sedge Hole Close
Parish: East Lound
OS: 112 • GR: SK 793996 • Map ref: 26
0.90 hectares (2.30acres) • Freehold 1988\90
Habitat type: Grassland
Location and Access
Access is by an unmetalled track that runs eastwards from East Lound village. The reserve is on the right after about 250 m. Cars may be parked on the roadside in the village. In the previous edition of the handbook this reserve was referred to by the name 'Seggholme Meadow'.
Description and Management
A small damp meadow originally divided into three strips by two hedgelines, of which remnants survive. There are approximately 110 species of plants in total. Typical old meadow plants include cowslip, great burnet, lesser knapweed, oxeye daisy and cuckooflower. There are also five species of buttercup, adder's-tongue, Good Friday-grass, ragged-robin and twayblade. In the south-west corner old retting pits, where flax used to be soaked, have become colonised by willows, reed sweet-grass and bittersweet. There are fine old boundary hedges with elm, hawthorn and field maple.
The meadow area of the reserve, which accounts for half of the site, is managed as a traditional hay meadow and is enclosed for grazing purposes. The retting pits and reedbed provide a nesting place for birds. There is no path through this area but it can be readily observed from the meadow or adjacent footpaths. The site is rich in butterflies and moths. The chimney sweeper moth, for instance, is abundant in the area when the pignut is in flower.
