Sutton Lane Meadows

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Open countryside with no admission charge; free for everyone.

ParkingFree parkingFree for all visitors

No charge for anyone.

Parking details

The National Trust says there is 'very limited lay-by parking on Sutton Lane (not National Trust)' near the meadows, followed by a 250-yard uneven track to the fields. It is not a Trust car park and no charge is published; there are no toilets.

Directions by road: from Sutton Benger turn onto Sutton Lane towards Langley Burrell; the gated track to the meadows is 1,500 yards along the lane on the right. The map pin is the Trust's own pin, which the Google listing shares, on Sutton Lane at the track; the exact lay-by was not verified on imagery.

By bus, Hatts Coaches 91 (Chippenham to Little Somerford) stops at Sutton Benger, just under 1 km walk away. Chippenham station is 4 miles by road from Sutton Benger.

About

Sutton Lane Meadows is three enclosed fields of unimproved neutral grassland between Sutton Benger and Langley Burrell near Chippenham, managed as traditional hay meadows and counted among the best meadow sites in Wiltshire. Two fields are Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the third a County Wildlife Site. In May thousands of green-winged orchids flower, followed by hundreds of southern marsh orchids and a summer flush of wild flowers, grasses and butterflies; the hedgerows and ditches between the fields feed birds and mammals, and the hay is so rich that it is cut green to seed other local meadows. Reviewers call it just a field, but a lovely one, best April to June, flat and easy for a short walk, with cattle or sheep sometimes grazing. Tips from visitors: the 250-yard track up from Sutton Lane is uneven, overgrown in places and very muddy after rain, and the lay-by holds only a few cars. On foot the meadows are reached by the footpath from Sutton Benger towards Langley Burrell.

Check today’s timesSee all times

CountrysideDawn to dusk

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open countryside, dawn to dusk every day; the Trust's calendar shows the meadows open on every day to 31 December 2026 with no closures.

The orchids flower in May and June; reviewers say the meadows are best visited from April to June.

Very limited lay-by parking on Sutton Lane (not National Trust) and a 250-yard uneven track to the meadows. No toilets or other facilities are listed. Livestock may be grazing.

Photo: The signposted footpath and gate leading to Sutton Lane Meadows. Alan Hughes, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Footpath_to_Sutton_Lane_Meadows_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7229047.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.