Protected as a nature reserve by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Meathop Moss is notable for its insect life.

[1] In 1965 it was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

Along with two other raised bogs near the Kent estuary, it was included in the Witherslack Mosses Special Area of Conservation which was designated in 2005.

He was particularly interested in the site as the habitat of the large heath butterfly and the silver-studded blue.

In 1899 Rothschild (at the age of 22) bought Wicken Fen and presented it to the National Trust: it was arguably Britain's first nature reserve.