title: Far High House Meadows
text: # Far High House Meadows
  
  Far High House Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Upper Weardale in west County Durham, England. It consists of three fields, located just south of Burnhope Reservoir, some 3 km west of the village of Ireshopeburn. Two of the fields are maintained as northern hay meadows by traditional farming methods, without re-seeding or the application of artificial fertilisers; the third is grazed as pasture.
  
  The hay fields are dominated by common bent, Agrostis capillaris, and sweet vernal-grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, and support a diversity of forbs, among which globe-flower, Trollius europaeus, and marsh-marigold, Caltha palustris, are well represented, with early-purple orchid, Orchis mascula, among the species present in the wetter areas.
  
  The pasture is a mix of acidic upland grassland, dry grassland and flushes, the last dominated by rushes and sedges.
  
  