Local Wildlife Site

Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation

Smith's Farm, Marnham Fields, Bridge Farm Open Space & Greenford Lagoons

Borough: Ealing

Grade: Borough Grade I

Access: Free public access (all/most of site)

Area: 22.46 ha

Description

This site is part of the wider Northolt and Greenford Country Park. The main area is Marnham Fields, which is an area of meadows, scrub and woodland to the east of the Grand Union Canal and to the south of the A40. To the west of the canal is the land known as Smith’s Farm, which has a variety of habitats including scattered trees, neutral grassland, bare ground, scrub and an excellent pond. Immediately south of the A40 to the east of a footbridge are a series of ponds known as Greenford Lagoons. To the east of this again is a developing young woodland of pedunculate oak and hawthorn with a smaller section of suckering English elm. There are walking and cycling routes in Marnham Fields and Smith’s Farm.

Wildlife

The area within Smith's Farm is fairly diverse in species. There are tall flowers and grasses, in some places reclaiming cleared areas. An excellent large pond supports a variety of plant species, including a good population of the rare marsh dock in the northeast corner of the pond. Immediately to the east of the Grand Union Canal in Marnham Fields, there are patches of scrub, dominated in places by bramble and very large patches of wild flowers such as cow parsley and hemlock. The habitat is more open in the north of this area with neutral grassland and some vegetation reclaiming the cleared areas near the paths. Each of the Greenford Lagoons are fringed by common reed and surrounded by grassland and scattered scrub. In the wood to the east, wood avens is abundant on the ground and provides colour in spring and early summer. An old hedgerow with several very large mature oaks bisects this woodland.

Facilities

Walking routes; cycling routes

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More information on GiGL’s SINC dataset can be found here.

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