Campaigners fear landscape which inspired Narnia could be lost forever
A unique and historical piece of farmland has been withdrawn from sale after a campaign by local people.
The 400-year-old water meadows at Turnastone Court in Herefordshire are believed to be the oldest such pastureland in England.
The landscape inspired the author C. S. Lewis to create his fictional land Narnia, the setting for his chronicles including, most famously, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Campaigners are now calling for more protection for the land, to ensure it is not under threat in the future.
The charity Countryside Regeneration Trust bought Turnastone Court in 2003 to save what it described as one of the most historically important farms in the UK.
The land has been farmed since 1130 and is home to many declining species such as skylark, yellowhammer, spotted flycatcher and water voles.
The farm includes a series of 16th Century stone sluice gates, one of the earliest water management systems ever recorded in England.
It sits in the Golden Valley in Herefordshire, between Hereford and the Welsh border and an area said to have inspired Lewis in coming up with the fictional Narnia.
The author said the landscape was what he imagined heaven would look like.
The Neolithic burial mound Arthur’s Stone is on the hill above the village.
Lewis was believed to have used it as a reference for the stone table, on which Aslan is sacrificed.
