How the National Trust’s art collections can shape meadow restoration

By Samuel Shaw, Lecturer in History of Art, The Open University

Earlier this year I found myself stood among a sea of swaying ox-eye daises in a floodplain meadow on the Attingham estate in Shropshire, on land owned by the National Trust. I noticed other plants growing here: the sunny yellows of meadow buttercup, the wine-reds of great burnet and the furry seed heads of meadow foxtail. The sounds of birds and insects bubbled in the background.

It felt like a thriving environment, but I knew that this meadow could be so much more. Floodplain meadows are hugely important spaces, supporting rare plant communities and providing food for animals to…

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