Ask most York residents what they value about the city, and they’ll mention its medieval walls, Minster, or rich street pattern. Yet just as important, though less often celebrated, are the great swathes of green floodplain meadow known locally as the ings. From Clifton and Rawcliffe to Fulford, Middlethorpe and beyond, these ancient grasslands remain part of York’s living landscape – a survival that is rare not just locally, but nationally.
What are the ings?
The term “ings” comes from Old Norse, meaning “meadow” or “water meadow”. These low-lying grasslands flood naturally when the Ouse or Foss overtop their banks. For centuries, their flooding prevented them being built on or ploughed up, so they became communal hay meadows and grazing grounds, managed by the rhythms of the year: hay cut in summer, aftermath grazing in autumn, and left to rest in winter when the waters returned.
This ancient system of management has left a remarkable ecological and cultural legacy. No other English city has such large tracts of flood meadow woven into its fabric, and York has a greater network of ings than anywhere else in the UK.
A rare habitat
Traditional floodplain meadows are now scarce: more than 95% of Britain’s species-rich grasslands have been lost since the mid-20th century. York’s ings are therefore exceptional. Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings alone cover around 100 hectares and are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Fulford and Middlethorpe Ings add another 50 hectares, and Poppleton extends the total to nearly 200 hectares of nationally important habitat.
These meadows host a diversity of wildflowers and grasses, supporting invertebrates and ground-nesting birds. They also form part of the Lower Derwent Valley Special Protection Area, internationally recognised for its birdlife. In flood, they attract lapwing, snipe and redshank; in summer, they blaze with buttercups and meadow foxtail.
Flood defence with heritage
The ings do double duty: ecologically vital and crucial for flood management. By allowing the Ouse and Foss to spill naturally into them, pressure is eased on downstream communities and the city centre. Natural England and the Environment Agency highlight them as a textbook example of traditional landscapes providing modern climate resilience.
These are not just scenic edges to York. They are working fields, still delivering the same functions they have for centuries.
A living heritage
The names themselves — “Clifton Ings”, “Fulford Ings” — are medieval survivals. Rights of haymaking and grazing were jealously guarded by York’s freemen and parishes, preventing enclosure or privatisation. That stubborn defence is why they remain today, unlike in most cities.
They also carry stories. Clifton Ings hosted York’s first official race meetings until 1730, when repeated flooding forced a move to the Knavesmire. Nun Ings took its name from land once endowed to a Benedictine nunnery close by in Clementhorpe.
Few other cities can boast anything similar. Oxford’s Port Meadow, at 180 hectares, is perhaps the best-known, its uninterrupted grazing rights dating back to Domesday. Cambridge has commons along the Cam, smaller but significant. Exeter and Hereford retain fragments, but nothing on York’s scale. What makes York distinctive is its multiple large meadows across both sides of the city, still managed in ways recognisable to a medieval farmer.
Threats and opportunities
The ings face pressures: flood defence works, farming changes, urban growth and climate change. They can also be taken for granted. Waterlogged and quiet in winter, they lack the visibility of the Minster or walls.
That makes it vital to value them. Projects by City of York Council, Natural England and volunteers are restoring habitats and monitoring wildlife. More could be done to promote them — from clearer walking routes to school projects — so people see them as landscapes of national importance, not just “spare fields”.
A resource for the future
As York looks to the 21st century — managing growth, adapting to climate change, improving wellbeing — the ings stand ready as a resource. They provide free flood storage, breathing space, and some of the city’s richest biodiversity. They also root York in its past, linking Viking settlers who gave them their name with today’s residents who still walk their paths.
Nationally, they stand alongside Oxford’s Port Meadow and Cambridge’s commons as unique survivals. York’s ings deserve recognition as one of the city’s greatest assets — proof that heritage is not always built of stone, but sometimes grown in grass and shaped by water.
Duncan Marks,
Heritage & Planning Manager,
York Civic Trust