National Grid Reference ST475719
Owned and managed by The Woodland Trust
INDEX
See the map, the plants,
the
ancient Oaks, and find out what
our ancestors did!
How is the
wood managed? Discover the
bubbling pond!
This ancient woodland, which
is designated as a Site of County Wide Importance, was purchased by The
Woodland Trust in 1992 with financial assistance from The Countryside Commission and Nailsea Town Council.
Local residents generously contributed the balance of the purchase price. It is
now part of the Forest of Avon, the Community Forest that surrounds Bristol.
The wood may be entered from Towerhouse Lane, or from the footpaths leading from Riverway (W2), from Greenfield Crescent (W1), or from Jacklands Bridge on the Clevedon Road (T14 or T16).
Car parking is restricted and it is probably best to leave cars in Greenfield Crescent and walk from W1 to the Trout Farm, then to use T12 and W9.
Further information about
the Woodland Trust may be obtained from Jaime Needler, Senior Woodland Officer
tel 01793 834277, or from the Woodland Trust, Autumn Park, Dysart Road,
Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6LL. tel. 0147 6581111
Enquiries regarding the Forest of Avon should be
directed to Ashton Court, Long Ashton Bristol. tel. 0117 9532141.
Plants
The woodland is carpeted with Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Bluebells and white Wood Anemones in the spring, and there are several Early Purple Orchids. These plants flower before the canopy of tree leaves close in to darken the forest. Dog's Mercury, Wood Melick, Bugle, Arum, Pignut, Spurge Laurel, Violets and Primroses are also found on the woodland floor, while in the wetter places to the south is Hemlock Water Dropwort. Several kinds of fern can be found - Hart's Tongue, the Soft Shield Fern and Bracken. The rotting wood provides a large number of fungi in the autumn, but the black balls of King Alfred's Cakes growing on dead Ash wood can be seen throughout the year.
The Veteran Oaks – One of the four ancient Oak pollards on the lower path collapsed in
October 2000, the ring count indicating that it could be up to 400 years old.
This tree was called the ‘Polo Oak’, after a hole in one of the branches, and
this name is now carved into the cut trunk. Below this may be found a seat
constructed from the timber, where it is possible to see across the
neighbouring fields. Another of the Oaks has long nails driven at intervals
into the trunk, used by generations of children as climbing footholds.
The carving (shown above) was
financed by Yansec, the administrators of the land-fill tax.
History - Just beyond the southern boundary of the wood is
a Mesolithic site (ST475718), occupied 6000 to 12 000 years ago, which was
excavated in 1956 and has evidence of flint working (Proc. Som. Arch. Soc.,
104, 106). The site was
re-investigated in April 1997 by Paula Gardiner of the Department of
Archaeology, University of Bristol, and the findings were published in The
Proceedings of the Council for British Archaeology, South West, for Spring
1998, pp 40-42. A little further to the
east (ST 479719) an iron age bronze torque was found in the last century.
Closer to Nailsea to the south (ST
479716) are the remains of a Roman villa last investigated in 1961 (Proc.
Som. Arch. Soc., 105, 37). Just
outside the west boundary of the wood are some disused lime kilns.
Animals - At least four kinds of bat fly in this wood. The
two species of the Common Pipistrelle have been detected, distinguished by the
frequency of their ultrasonic calls, together with Noctules, and Daubenton's
Bats which skim the water of the Trout Farm to the west of the wood in their
search for insects. Foxes are well established here. Many of our native
songbirds flourish in these woods, together with Tree Creepers, Goldcrests, and
Woodpeckers, while Buzzards are sometimes seen on the open fields.
Woodland - Management of the wood is
by long term coppicing in small areas, leaving some of the cut wood to
encourage invertebrates and fungi. The stumps remaining in the ground form
shoots that eventually restore the tree cover.
In this way, the wood can maintain a greater diversity of wildlife.
Covering an area of 16˝ acres, it includes many well
established Ash, Oak, Field Maple, Beech, Wych Elm and Birch trees. There are
some large old ash coppice stools and ancient pollarded Oaks on the southern
boundary. The undergrowth is mainly Hazel, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Holly and
Spindle. Close to the north east entrance is a Small-leaved Lime tree, a good
indicator of ancient woodland, and set further back to the north of this
entrance is a Coast Redwood. The Rhododendrons near to the northern perimeter
of the wood can be invasive and need to be regularly cut. The spring line at
the southern boundary of the wood gives marshy areas of Alder carr and good
quality rhynes and ponds
Geology - In the north, the wood is situated on
carboniferous limestone, and to the south on Mercian Mudstone. In the southwest
corner of the wood there is a pond in which bubbles of gas are being constantly
produced. Work in association with British Gas showed that this gas is mainly
air containing 8% carbon dioxide. It is not easy to account for the production
of these bubbles, but some possible explanations could depend on the presence
of a cave system beneath the hill (T.
A. Smith, Pennant, volume 28, page 21).
Click here to return to the website of
the Nailsea Wildlife Wardens
There is a printed guide available
from the dispenser at the entrance to the Wood -
Further information on the
Wood may be obtained from Piers Partridge (tel 01275 81 0166)
or Terry Smith (tel 01275 85
4317; email t.a.smith@blueyonder.co.uk)
12/05/2008