Pangbourne River Meadows

Published: 09 February 2026

You will likely have spotted the recent activity at the far end of Pangbourne River Meadows.

As part of our commitment to managing the meadows and the land that we own responsibly, we commissioned a BBOWT (Berkshire Bucks Oxfordshire Wildlife) report supported by a generous grant from Mend the Gap.

This report looked at the historic use of the river meadows which were once a classic water meadows , with cattle grazing and use of the tow path for barges and boats informing the landscape.

The last full record we have of the flora and fauna here (until this latest report ) dates from the 1980s and is helping us to understand how things have changed over that period.

Whilst a beautiful area of land, it has been graded as poor to moderate due to the crowding out of many native species by other more dominant grasses and weeds which have been left unchecked.

One of the recommendations of the report was to manage part of the land ( the further stretches of longer grass which we manage on behalf of the National Trust ) as traditional “hay meadows” harking back to those times and before the land was ‘saved’ for the village by public subscription in 1936.

This could form part of a larger project being worked on by others including Mend the Gap to create a connected “Nature Corridor” running along the river from the Hay meadows of the Hardwick Estate, via the new Sulham Wetlands, Pangbourne River Meadows and onwards towards Beale Park and Streatley and Goring Gap.

In this endeavour , we have been very fortunate to have been offered the services and enormous knowledge of James Norman who is the tenant farmer at Path Hill. Path’s Hill’s website says:

“Path Hill Farm is managed organically and has been run by tenant James Norman since 1998. James took over from Sir Julian, who built the diverse farm up over a 25 year period as a mixed organic enterprise featuring dairy farming, free-range hens and pigs, as well as sheep and cows.

Over half of the farm is permanent grassland, and includes species-rich hay meadows by the river, chalk grassland, and fen grazing.”

Working together with James’s expertise and skill, we hope to be able to build on his work at the farm, particularly the section of hay meadows by the riverbank in Oxfordshire to return Pangbourne Meadows to its once species rich past.

The first stage in this process was to mow and bale the area before the worst of winter (to reduce the nutrients in the soil which is an essential step) and this has been done in recent weeks. When the ground is firmer, these bales will be removed and the process can begin. Unfortunately the bales will not be able to be used to feed cattle this year due to their low grade composition but it is hoped that in future years, they could be used in this way.

Over the coming year, grass cuts will be timed carefully on this area to encourage seeding and the wide section of Thames Path may be reduced slightly to allow this section to expand outwards. The areas of short grass nearer the Adventure Dolphin Centre and Playground will remain unchanged.

Monitoring of what species return and when will be necessary and we are hoping to work with groups such as PAWS , ARK and so on to secure volunteers to assist with this . We really are hoping that this can be a community project . We would welcome anyone who would like to help volunteer!!!

Further updates will be posted here.

If you would like to be involved or to find out more , please contact Clerk@pangbourne-pc.gov.uk