Low Redford Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 in the Teesdale

Teesdale (district)

Teesdale was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council was based in Barnard Castle and it was named after the valley of the River Tees....

 district of County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It consists of two separate areas of meadows, situated in the floodplain and on the valley slopes of Bedburn Beck, 2 km upstream from the village of Bedburn

Bedburn

Bedburn is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated near Hamsterley and Hamsterley Forest, and the River Wear.-External links:...

. Like Frog Wood Bog

Frog Wood Bog

Frog Wood Bog is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of County Durham, England. It lies alongside Bedburn Beck, approximately 3.5 km west of the village of Bedburn....

 SSSI, a short distance upstream, the meadows lie within the confines of Hamsterley Forest

Hamsterley Forest

Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest in County Durham operated by the Forestry Commission. It is the largest forest in County Durham and covers more than 2000 hectares. Recreational activities are promoted within the forest and are focussed at the eastern end around the...

.

The site is important as preserving a rich assemblage of plant species, in a habitat that is becoming increasingly scarcer as a result of intensive agricultural practices. A wide variety of flowering plants is found, with some, such as wood cranesbill, Geranium sylvaticum, great burnet, Sanguisorba officinalis

Sanguisorba officinalis

Sanguisorba officinalis is a plant in the family Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. It is native throughout the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America....

, and cat's ear, Hypochoeris radicata, present in such abundance as to be locally dominant in different fields.