Oxford Times article - 2 February 2001 - written by David Horan

The Hurst has been "common land" to the people of Dorchester-on-Thames for as long as anyone can remember. Of course, they don't graze their stock there, but the 18-acre water meadow in the shadow of St Birinus's abbey has been a village playground for walkers, dog-owners, picnickers and, especially, anglers.

This low-lying island between the River Thame and the Overy Mill Stream was, for hundreds of years, part of the Abbey estate. Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, it has passed through several private and, latterly, corporate owners - including ARC, whose former quarries to the north of the village have been converted into lakes attractive to both wildlife and human leisure activities. 

When its last owners, Dorchester Fisheries an angling business, went into receivership in 1995, villagers feared it might fall again into private hands and access become severely restricted. So they set about buying it for use by the village in perpetuity. The spark came from the parish council, though they felt a separate body should deal with it and the Hurst Water Meadow Trust was born. They made a bid of £32,576 for the site and raised the lot, with some to spare, from an appeal among their fellow villagers. 

From the beginning, according to driving force and Trust secretary Dr Peter Pritchard, the twin aims had been to make the meadow permanently accessible to villagers and to conserve and improve the wildlife habitats contained there. "We found support wherever we turned,' said Dr Pritchard who was, for many years, the village GP. "Money was forthcoming, from individuals and charitable trusts, and help was always at hand whenever we wanted to carry out conservation work." 

Because the land regularly flooded, it had been largely untouched by the plough and had remained relatively free from chemical additives.  Consequently, the plant communities were likely to be rich and typical of the habitat type, once the grassland was allowed to rest for a few years.

The Trust entered into the government-sponsored Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which offers protection for 10 years and grants to aid management. Ecologists from the Northmoor Trust at nearby Little Wittenham were called in to survey the meadow and draw up a management programme designed to protect and improve the wildlife. "They found more than 100 species of plant," said Dr Pritchard. "There's nothing rare or exciting, which suits us, because we don't want to get too scientific and have to restrict access to parts with rare plants. "We have the usual common birds, plus kingfishers, heron and woodpeckers, and a wide range of mammals - field vole, fox, weasel, muntjac and roe deer though, sadly, no water voles." This last is probably due to the activity of mink here. A farmer upstream began trapping the vicious aliens last year and despatched a dozen of them, giving rise to hope that improvement might bring back the endangered voles.

A number of conservation projects have been undertaken, including the major one of replacing the main access bridge to the meadow. Ancient willows have been pollarded, bunds built to create a 'linear pond', a scrape dug below the water table and willow spiling put in at the banks to form a living anti-erosion measure. The meadow grass is allowed to grow, proving attractive to butterflies and summer insects, is mown as hay in July and grazed by cattle through the autumn. Mown paths guide visitors around the site. Cowslips were planted early and have done well, and last year scores of young Snakeshead Fritillary plants - grown from local seed at Oxford Botanic Garden - were planted out in an ideal situation. Loddon Lily, another Thames speciality, could be the next introduction. If so, it will appear across the mill stream in an area of unmanaged woodland below the Dorchester bypass, known as Buck Pool Spinney. The Trust is about to sign a deal to manage the hectare-sized site for "nature conservation, public recreation and angling". 

Angling is free, with a licence, to any villager and anyone under 16. Season and day tickets bring in about £800 a year for Trust funds. The £15,000 cost of Buck Pool Spinney has been helped by another appeal to villagers. "This time, we organised a mailshot to those who have moved in since the first appeal," said treasurer Andrew Clements. "The response was just as generous. It seems the whole village recognises the importance of this project and wants to feel part of it." 

Andrew Clements has created a website for Hurst Water Meadow, with information, photographs and Trust newsletters. It can be accessed on: www.hurst-water-meadow.co.uk