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Bramford Meadows, situated on the outskirts of Ipswich are bordered to the east by the main Ipswich railway line and to the west by the River Gipping and the village of Bramford. The Gipping Valley riverside footpath runs along the length of the meadows.The site which has recently been purchased by Suffolk County Council, consists of a series of low-lying wet meadows which are separated by a number of drainage ditches. The water in these ditches is of a high quality and they support a diverse aquatic and emergent flora. Along the ditch edges can be found water-plantain, purple loosestrife and flowering-rush. The latter species is a scarce plant in Suffolk and is restricted to the fringes of clean watercourses. A detailed invertebrate survey of the meadows carried out in 1993 showed that the site was also of considerable importance for its invertebrate populations. A total of seven species of Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) was recorded during two visits to the site. Of particular importance are the margins of rank vegetation and bare mud along the dyke edges. These habitats were found to contain large populations of two species of bush cricket which are considered to be scarce in the County. Furthermore, the site is also noted for its butterfly fauna; fourteen species were recorded in three visits to the site. Brown Argus, a species with a local distribution in Suffolk confined mainly to Breckland and a few sites in the Gipping Valley, was recorded here in reasonable numbers. d Bramford Meadows have been entered into a Countryside Stewardship agreement and are managed by the Gipping Valley Project to enhance both their wildlife and landscape value.
RNR Number Area
Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014
0 9.04 East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm Appendix 23.1 Biological Records Check