Meades Water Gardens
History
Originally the site of the mill pond for Amy Mill and later developed into water cress beds, the River Chess was converted into an ornamental lake to create recreational gardens in 1979. The Garden was awarded a commendation by the Civic Trust in 1980. Unfortunately, the design of the gardens was unsustainable as the lakes silted up over time. The lakes were dredged in the 1990s, but this expensive process would need to be continually repeated to maintain this ornamental feature. Therefore, it was decided to restore the original chalk stream in a major environmental enhancement project in 2007-08.
Meades Water Gardens Regeneration
The Impress the Chess project, led by the Council and the Chilterns Conservation Board, raised over £60,000 to regenerate the Water Gardens and improve its wildlife value. The ornamental lakes were converted back to the natural stream habitat. The River Chess is a chalk stream, which is a globally rare habitat and characteristic of the Chilterns. Chalk streams support a huge range of wildlife from brown trout to watercress, so the restoration of this habitat is very important to the area.
Meades Water Gardens Wildlife
The River Chess in the Gardens is home to wildfowl, including moorhens and ducks. A variety of birds nest in the trees, and grey squirrels set up their drays. The stream homes a number of plants, including watercress and ranunculus, and sticklebacks and freshwater shrimp have already re-colonised the new stream channel.
Meades Water Gardens is supported by the work of the Impress the Chess project. To find out more, visit the Impress the Chess page.