Winnall Moors

Winnall Moors is a 64-hectare nature reserve on the western edge of Winchester in Hampshire. It sits within the South Downs National Park and is split into two parts. The southern section belongs to Winchester City Council and has been managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust since the 1980s. The northern section was once low-intensity farmland and was bought by the Trust after a public appeal with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The reserve protects a mix of habitats such as chalk streams, tall fens, hay meadows and wet pastures. Rare plants grow here including green-flowered helleborine, water crowfoot and lesser water-parsnip. Purple loosestrife, yellow flag iris and southern marsh-orchids line the waterways. The meadows hold fleabane, meadowsweet and fen bedstraw, while sedges and reeds grow in the wetter ground. Birdlife is abundant with little grebes, mute swans and mallards on the water. Reed and sedge warblers nest in the vegetation, and gadwall, wigeon and snipe visit seasonally. Dragonflies and damselflies breed along the streams, including the broad-bodied chaser, common darter and banded demoiselle.