Wink's Meadow Nature Reserve

Map of Wink's Meadow (1998)

Today, Wink's Meadow is a small isolated grassland enclosure surrounded by large fields given over to the intensive cultivation of barley and oilseed. This treeless landscape is a part of a 50m watershed plateau between the rivers Blyth and Waveney. The process of breaking up the small field systems and enlarging the farms began during the Second World War when Metfield Airfield was created.

Map of Wink's Meadow (1882)

WM = position of meadow

At this time the meadow was in the parish of Metfield and was probably part of the adjacent farmstead marked in pink.

Map of Wink's Meadow (1841 Tithe Map)

In the 1840s the meadow was part of Burkitt's Farm, which consisted of 12 fields (38 acres) rented by William Chase. The fields making up the farm have been marked with green dots. The farm was a portion of a strip of land and some adjacent fields belonging to the parish of Withersdale but surrounded by parish lands of Metfield. It had probably been enclosed (date unknown) from common clay lands shared between Withersdale and Metfield. The present botanical diversity of the hedges of Wink's Meadow indicates they were first planted about five hundred years ago. In the Tithe Apportionment all of the fields of Birkitt's Farm were classified as pasture. It was probably a self-sufficient dairy/beef unit.