Cowslips  (Primula veris ) 
These are “St Peter’s Keys” or the “Keys to Heaven” according to legend!  Apparently St Peter discovered that people were trying to enter Heaven by the back gate instead of through the front gate for which he held the keys. He was so upset that he dropped the keys and when they fell to Earth they took root and cowslips began to grow.   Another name is “Fairycup” because fairies use the umbrella shaped flowers for shelter during the rain.   According to Norse legend the flowers were dedicated to the goddess Freya and symbolised the keys to happiness and love.
Cowslips were once common and linked with many customs especially around May Day and all parts of the plant were used in folk remedies. Now due to intensive farming practices 90% of native cowslip habitats have been lost in the last 100 years.  Around here natural wild cowslips grow near the sea mainly near cliffs but they can be seen increasingly on the verges of roads where a wildflower mixture has been scattered and are spreading easily.   
The name cowslip may derive from the old English for cow dung (cow slop or the Anglo-Saxon cu-slippe), probably because the plant likes meadows rich in manure.