Barrington Hill Meadows facts for kids
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
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| Area of Search | Somerset |
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| Coordinates | 50°56′53″N 2°59′52″W / 50.94817°N 2.99783°W |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 16.1 hectares (0.161 km2; 0.062 sq mi) |
| Notification | 1987 |
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.
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.
