About the reserve

Oak Tree Farm is a 30 acre site, lying directly below Dinmore Hill and slopes down to the Rive Lugg which forms its southern border. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust purchased the site in September 2020 following a successful fundraising appeal. Many thanks to the 500 individuals that donated to the appeal, The Banister Charitable Trust, Herefordshire Ornithological Club, Herefordshire Community Foundation and Severn Waste Services.

The site originally comprised pasture and meadow as well as a temporary pool beside the river which was fed by a spring. In 2022 and early 2023 we created a series of pools and scrapes along the banks of the river. Pools that would hold floodwater and provide additional habitat for wetland wildlife. The areas around these pools will be a wet grassland, with a variety of wildflowers providing food for pollinators like bumblebees. A swale, taking run-off from the road to the pond, was also created and planted with reedbed – a nationally scarce habitat. This work was funded by National Highways as part of their Network for Nature funding.

Together with Bodenham Lake and Lugg Meadow, this reserve forms part of our flagship Lugg Valley Nature Reserves which, together with Queenswood Country Park & Arboretum, will offer some of the best wildlife-watching in the county.