Virtual Field Trips
Dell Quay to Fishbourne
6. Fishbourne Meadows
Fishbourne Meadows is an area of low-lying grassland with streams flowing through it.
Cows in Fishbourne meadows
The streams and its position next to the Fishbourne channel mean that the area stays damp all year round.
Roman Landings
Roman remains
The ruins of Fishbourne Roman Palace extend down as far as the meadows. There is evidence to suggest that during Roman times there may have been a large lagoon here with a deep water channel which allowed boats access to the palace. The house called Roman Landings backs onto the meadow and has evidence of a Roman quay in the garden just behind where the stream is now. However more recent archaeological evidence suggests that they may only have sailed as far as Copperas Point. There may have been a canal from there to Fishbourne but it has not been located yet.
Hunting for minibeasts
Minibeast hunting
Moisture loving plants thrive here and provide homes for many insects and other minibeasts. Hunting through the grass looking for these with nets and pots is very popular with school children and people of all ages!
To find out more about grassland, click here.
Fleabane
Hemlock water dropwort
Meadow plants
The meadows are managed to encourage a wide variety of wildlife to flourish. One of the ways to do this is to allow cows to graze the grass in late summer and early autumn. They eat the more vigorous plants, allowing smaller plants space to grow. Plants that like to grow in the damp grass include meadowsweet, ragged robin, fleabane and the poisonous hemlock water dropwort.
To find out more about hemlock water dropwort,
click here.
Southern marsh orchid
Southern Marsh Orchids
Southern Marsh Orchids also like to grow here. Their beautiful spikes of purple flowers are very rare but they have increased in number from about 150 in 1998 to over 600 in 2005. After the orchids’ seeds have set, the cattle are allowed in and their grazing keeps down other plants, allowing the orchids space to grow.
To find out more about Southern Marsh Orchids,
click here
Pollen beetle
Soldier beetle
Wasp spider
Insects
Many insects such as grasshoppers and aphids feed on the plants. Spiders and ladybirds are predators that feed on other insects. Spiders like the wasp spider build large webs to trap flies. Pollen beetles feed on the pollen of flower heads. Soldier beetles also visit flower heads but not for the pollen. They come to eat the insects that have come to feed there!
Dragonfly
Dragonfly larvae
Stream and meadow
Some insects need both the stream and the meadow to complete their life cycle. Dragonflies lay their eggs on a plant stem underwater. The young, called larvae, hatch and spend two years swimming in the stream catching and eating other stream creatures. Then they crawl up a plant stem and change into an adult dragonfly and hunt insects over the meadow.
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