At the eastern edge of Port Meadow, just north of the entrance from Aristotle Lane, is Burgess Field, a reclaimed landfill site and home to a nature reserve, managed by Oxford City Council.

[2] Port Meadow is one of the most popular locations in Oxford for recreation activities such as walking, running, cycling and swimming in the adjacent River Thames.

During days of fair weather the banks of the River Thames in the Meadow are often lined with people enjoying the natural environs.

While journeying slowly from Folly Bridge to near Godstow, Dodgson began at their request to make up a story that later was expanded into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

[3] During the First World War part of Port Meadow was used to train the Royal Flying Corps and turned into a military aerodrome.

[18] On 7 May 2013, the Campaign to Protect Rural England applied to the High Court for judicial review of the decision to grant planning permission on the grounds that requirements for a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were not met.

In 2016, Oxford University proposed an array of mitigating techniques, including cladding and horizontal beams to "break up the vertical façade".

Theo Faron, the main character in P. D. James's 1992 dystopian novel The Children of Men, walks across Port Meadow in order to reach the village of Binsey.