Not far from Newbury, in Berkshire, is a 3-hectare meadow that hosts Britain’s largest display of wild crocuses. This is ‘Inkpen Crocus Field’, which explodes in colour each spring with an estimated 400,000 purple and white flowers.
Parish records say the crocuses have been flowering in Inkpen for at least 200 years, although nobody really knows their exact origin.
If you visit, to avoid crushing any of the delicate flowers remember to stay on the two lightly-trodden tracks that meander through the field.
In 1986 the meadow was designated a SSSI, not for its crocuses (there are no native crocuses in the UK), but for its species-rich meadowland, which comprises a variety of wildflowers, birds, butterflies and other insects.
The meadow is managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).
