Ancient Woodlands

Ancient Woodlands are designated as being land which has been continuously wooded since 1600 AD in England and Wales, (or 1750 AD in Scotland simply because of the difference of historical survey information available) as these dates mark the beginning of reasonably accurate historical information on local land use, often in the form of estate maps. There are some records prior to this, notably the Doomsday Book of 1086.

So it is taken that in such map evidence, existence of individual woods prior to 1600 probably date back to the first colonization after the ending of the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago. The irregular, often sinuous boundaries of woods are one indication as well as the presence of certain plants like wild daffodils, yellow archangel, wood anemone and bluebells of ancient woodlands. These represent the nation’s richest wildlife habitats, covering less than 2 per cent of the UK’s land area and they are irreplaceable.

There are basically two broad types of ancient woodland - Ancient Semi-Natural Ancient Woodland (ASNW) and Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) – some with conifers and the complex web of life was disrupted. However many of these planted ancient woods, still have elements of the previous native woodland ecosystem surviving. The delicate plants have hung on, sometime just as seed, just waiting for an opportunity (and enough light) to thrive again.

If these woodlands are going to benefit the environment and enrich wildlife the most, their boundaries could be gradually extended to ideally at least 7 acres (or about three hectares) in size. However, unless deer numbers are greatly reduced deer will continue to destroy the understorey and field layers to the detriment of flora and fauna like insects and birds.

With the rise of alien diseases and pests that have arrived since the start of the millennium, as in other European countries, there should be a move towards Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) to produce native mixed woodlands with carefully exotic chosen conifers that will produce quality timber as well as richer habitats for wildlife without significant damage to the ancient woodland characteristics. Management is very important and three hectares foresters usually agree ideally is the minimum size for best management.

Trees like the small leaf lime and about 30 epiphytic lichens species are also used as Ancient Woodland Indicators but caution is needed as some plants are tolerant of a wide range of ecological conditions and will behave differently on different soil types. Thus, they may be suitable indicators of ancient woodland on one soil type, but not on another. Fortunately experts from the then Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) spent years mapping and examining potential ancient woodland site and compiled inventories for each county which it published using the Ordnance Survey Sheets (now Landranger OS series) Maps. It is these original NCC maps from the 1980s or earlier, that appear on the internet site www.magic.gov.uk which is a little difficult to use and also the OS location numbering is not there. It seemed useful for people if the Bucks Tree Club listed the ancient woodland sites with the OS reference and indicate the nearest town in the county,

The list below may not be complete as some new ancient woodland sites are still sometimes identified and also the local names are not always given on the Landranger OS Sheets so the Club always welcomes further information.

For download of the table which is printable please click Here