Edgware Way Grassland

Edgware Way Grassland is a 6.7-hectare site of metropolitan importance for nature conservation in Edgware, within the London Borough of Barnet. The land sits beside Edgwarebury Brook and shows remains of a planned Northern line railway viaduct and embankment. These works were cancelled after the Second World War when the Green Belt stopped the developments the railway would have served. Part of the site now forms the Environment Agency’s Edgwarebury Park Flood Storage Area. The reserve is unimproved London Clay grassland, damp and rich in herbs. It supports uncommon old-meadow plants such as great burnet, sneezewort and devil’s bit scabious. Along the brook grow sedges and water-cress, while breeding birds include yellowhammer and spotted flycatcher. A public footpath crosses the private land from Edgware Way, starting just west of Spur Road and leading into adjoining Edgwarebury Park.