The Trust Land at North Hinksey consists of two parcels of land alongside North Hinksey Lane, and to the rear of the warehouses/superstores of the Botley Road. The fields are adjacent to the City Council's Seacourt Nature Reserve and lie either side of Willow Walk, the popular tree lined avenue which leads from Hinksey Village into Osney Mead and onto the City, and which is not in the ownership of the Trust.

Hinksey Meadows

Hinksey Meadows were bought by the Trust in 1997 (its 70th anniversary year) and comprise 33 acres of pasture within the Oxford Flood Plain and the Green Belt. The land is managed as part of the Upper Thames Environmentally Sensitive Area, and by sensitive conservation management the diversity of species in the grassland is being encouraged and the field is now rich in meadow and wetland species including fritillaries, knapweed, lady's bedstraw, meadow sweet and sheep's fescue.

In 2002 the Trust worked in partnership with the West Oxford Wildlife Group, Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum and Oxford City Council to create one of 10 Oxfordshire Jubilee Wildlife Spaces to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. The Project involved the creation of a wetland area at the north west corner of the field following the meander which marks the original boundary of medieval Oxford's Franchises or Liberty, and which was, until 1991, the local authority boundary.

The Trust was also pleased that the site was granted a CLA Wildlife Sites Award in 2001.
A semi circular permissive path around the Meadows can be accessed from Willow Walk.

2008 Update In winter 2008 the Trust will be carrying out urgent pollarding on the willows along the eastern boundary (furthest from North Hinksey Village and at right angles to Willow Walk). The Trust has been working in partnership with BBOWT on this, who have advised that the work be carried out over the winter to minimise disruption to wildlife. An ecological survey showed that there are no bats roosting in the trees, and we have been in consultation with the tree officer at Oxford City Council.

The Trust is also working with Oxford City Council to improve pedestrian access to Hinksey Meadows from the City Council's Seacourt Nature Reserve.

Land at North Hinksey

To the south of Willow Walk lie two water meadows, bordered by Hinksey Stream, the Bulstake Stream and Willow Walk, which were bought by the Trust from the van Heyningen and Pirie families in 1978, subject to an undertaking that they would be retained in agricultural use. The land, which often floods in winter, is let for pasture.

The two meadows are shown on the 1739 Brasenose Estate Map as divided by an ancient causeway that was once the main route into Oxford from the west. In 1994 the bridges over the streams were rebuilt and work to clear the way along the raised Causeway made a pleasant path from Osney Mead to North Hinksey and The Fishes public house. The stretch of the Causeway beyond the Bulstake Stream, formerly known as the River Hope, is now part of Ferry Hinksey Road. It has been suggested that the crossing over the River Hope was the 'Oxenford' from which the city's name derives.

In 1996 the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire's Rare Plants Group introduced a colony of Creeping Marshwort (Apium repens) to the field. Creeping Marshwort is a small, creeping umbellifer which grows in open, wet, permanent pasture subject to winter flooding, and spreads both by runners and seeding. It is on the Endangered Species list and at one time the English population was restricted to one other site in Oxfordshire. The ANHS Rare Plants Group is closely involved in monitoring the population and drawing up and executing a detailed action plan for the species. The introduction of a small patch of plants at North Hinksey was part of this plan, and we are delighted that the plant appears to like its new home as the main patch seems to be increasing and there are signs of newly seeded areas.

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© 2002-8, Oxford Preservation Trust