About

Rogiet Countryside Park and surrounding areas all used to be part of the wider wetlands, where fields became wet in the winter and remained damp in the summer. They were home to grass snakes, water voles and nesting birds such as lapwings, which can still be found at Magor Marsh and Newport Wetlands. If you look across the countryside park from the road bridge you will see the connecting water channels (reens and ditches) following the line of hedgerows that once connected Rogiet to the wider Gwent Levels.

Flower meadows and grasslands

Since the railway tracks were removed, nature has recolonised the site, returning it to scrub and wild flower meadows full of wildlife. When the railway sidings were dismantled in the 1990s, the soil was disturbed. Seeds of grasses, flowers and trees that had been buried and dormant for many years were brought to the surface and germinated. Today the wild flower meadows are cut once a year. The cut material or hay is removed to avoid fertilising the soil; the flowers don’t need much food. There are 166 different varieties of plants, bees and butterflies now found here.

Click here to see the Rogiet Countryside Park map and guide