Charles Rothschild loved natural wild places and feared that the industrial and agricultural revolutions of the early 20th century would destroy them.

He collected butterflies and studied fleas, but he also realised that entire wildlife habitats needed to be saved, and set about recording a list of potential nature reserves.

By 1915 the list of 284 Rothschild Reserves identified as ‘sites worthy of preservation’ included Hartslock, Wychwood Forest, Aston Upthorpe Downs and the Ruskin Reserve at Cothill, which was owned by the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire.

George Claridge Druce, one of Oxford’s leading botanists, enjoyed visiting this reserve: ‘In spring one sees bright green spears of the young grasses and sedges piercing through the russet browns of the dead rush and sedge vegetation…when almost the only touch of colour given is caused by the golden palms on the sallows or the bluish haze where the bluebells are beginning to expand in the woodland.’ Visitors today can still appreciate the special atmosphere of this fen with its swampy marsh and ancient woodland. The underlying limestone formed by layers of marine creatures at the bottom of tropical seas 160 million years ago creates a unique habitat for plants and insects.

The Ruskin Reserve is now managed by Natural England in partnership with BBOWT, which looks after the adjacent Parsonage Moor nature reserve, and also Lashford Lane Fen downstream on Sandford Brook. Together with BBOWT’s Dry Sandford Pit, Hitchcopse Pit and Gozzard’s Ford Fen, they form a Special Area of Conservation, one of Europe’s highest levels of environmental protection.

This summer, the Cothill Fen Weekend Volunteer Group, supported by BBOWT, is preparing to manage the Ruskin Reserve, using traditional methods to cut reeds and reveal more open water for dragonflies and the rare southern damselfly. A small group of Welsh Mountain ponies will graze a fenced area to keep the sedges from overgrowing sites where marsh orchids can be seen.

Although G. C. Druce was an avid plant collector, he agreed with Rothschild that wild places for nature should be protected. ‘Specimens should not be ruthlessly gathered or collected just to satisfy a momentary curiosity; it is much better to observe than destroy,’ he wrote. He was so worried about the fate of the monkey orchids on the chalk slopes at Hartslock near Goring-on-Thames that he simply marked ‘Best Area’ on the map without describing the plants.

In 1975 BBOWT bought the site, which was rapidly disappearing under scrub. At that time just seven monkey orchids were recorded — and this was the only known site for them in the Chilterns. Under BBOWT’s careful management and through diligent work by hundreds of volunteers, flower-rich chalk downland has been restored by cutting back the scrub and bringing in sheep to graze the site in autumn. Today the ‘Best Area’ marked on Druce’s map is the site of a thriving monkey orchid colony flourishing alongside lady orchids. The first hybrid plant of the monkey and lady orchid was found here in 2006, and nearly 300 plants were spotted last year. Like Cothill Fen, Hartslock nature reserve is now a Special Area of Conservation.

Thanks to the tireless work of The Wildlife Trusts, Rothschild’s vision of a network of nature reserves as strongholds where rare plants, insects, birds and mammals can thrive, and where people can learn about and enjoy nature, will continue for the next 100 years.

A leaflet of the circular walk around Cothill Fen is available from wis@bbowt.org.uk To find out more about the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust visit www.bbowt.org.uk. Information about the Centenary, including maps of Rothschild Reserves, at www.wildlifetrusts.org