Hannah's Meadows

Hannah's Meadows is a protected grassland reserve comprising three fields at Low Birk Hatt Farm, located north of Blackton Reservoir in County Durham. The site encompasses rolling meadowland with diverse plant and invertebrate communities.

The Durham Wildlife Trust acquired the site in 1988 and established it as a nature reserve to protect traditional farming practices and native habitats. Since then, the meadows have been managed using heritage methods rather than modern agricultural approaches.

The meadows sit within a landscape shaped by Norse mythology, with the nearby River Balder named after a Norse god and surrounding hills bearing ancient place names. These geographical links reveal the region's deep historical roots.

An unstaffed visitor center housed in a converted farm building offers year-round information about the site's ecology and management practices. The location remains open and accessible for self-guided exploration of the meadow trails.

These meadows have remained largely unmodified by artificial fertilizers and grass reseeding, preserving one of the region's most natural grassland communities. Their untouched composition makes them scientifically valuable for studying upland ecology.