Meadow

Meadows are areas of land originally used for the cultivation of hay in the summer months. The grass is dried and used for livestock fodder in the winter. Although this practice has generally ceased in modern farming, meadows are still discernable in the landscape by their sinuous shape and are usually found on low-lying ground on damp valley bottoms adjacent to the course of a river. Meadows are mainly found along the course of the Ouse, Ousel and Thame in the north of the county, while the Chilterns have meadows running along the Chess, and Misbourne.

Meadows were well-established by the 11th century and remained important through the medieval period. The origins of organised management of water courses across is not closely dated in Buckinghamshire by may be a medieval/Tudor phenomenon continuing into the 19th century.

Meadows are associated with a wide range of water management features such as mills, leats, moats and channels.  They were sometimes incorporated into designed landscapes and are crossed by roads and bridges and old river channels. Roman and prehistoric settlement is often found close to watercourses under or adjacent to meadows.    Archaeological remains in meadowland can be exceptionally well preserved in waterlogged environments whilst natural deposits in peats and palaeochannels preserve invaluable environmental sequences.