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1.2 Mid Anglia
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Natural Areas
The Mid Anglian region
has examples of 16 natural areas.
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The royal forest of Rockingham
once comprised an extensive tract of
semi-natural coppices, some of which were in large, continuous woods
many thousands of hectares in extent. These have now been fragmented
by clearance and opencast mining, and most of the surviving woods
have been converted to plantations.
Of the remaining stands
of semi- natural woodland, only the former
Purlieu Woods at the north-eastern extremity of the forest are of
outstanding importance. These formed one continuous woodland until
the mid nineteenth century when the clearance of the western half of
Thornhaw Woods cut the woods into two main blocks, Bedford Purlieus
to the east and Easton Hornstocks to the west.
1977 Conservation Review |
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W.I28. PIPEWELL
WOODS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
SP 8286.
80 ha
Grade 2
Monks Arbour and Pipewell
Woods lie on deep, calcareous clay soils
at the south-western extremity of Rockingham Forest and have a
coppice- with-standards structure. Pedunculate oak is the main
standard species, with ash, birch and a few planted beech. The
coppice layer is dominated by hazel, with ash, dogwood and field
maple locally abundant in Monks Arbour Wood. The field layer ranges
from Mercurialis perennis-Galeobdolon luteum on the drier soils, to
Filipendula ulmaria-Ranunculus repens in waterlogged patches, and
Pteridium aquilinum-Rubus fruticosus-Hokus lanatus on the more
acidic patches. The ground flora includes such local species as Iris
foetidissima and Campanula latifolia. At the southern end of
Pipewell Wood, English elm has invaded from the hedge to form a
nearly pure community.
This is one of the Ancient
Forest coppices. It is typical of such
woods and has the advantage that it is not damaged by ironstone
working or replanting with conifers, and indeed the coppicing
continues actively. Other woods in Rockingham Forest, however, were
once known to be richer faunally. |
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W-44- CASTOR
HANGLANDS, HUNTINGDON AND PETERBOROUGH
TF noi.
45 ha
Grade i
The woodlands of Castor
Hanglands NNR straddle a zone of marked
geological variety in Jurassic rocks, ranging in north-south
sequence from limestone to clay, cornbrash, sand and then clay
again. The soils reflect this sequence with a range from calcareous
loams to calcareous and neutral gleys. Most of the woodland was
formerly coppice-with-standards, most of which has been removed,
leaving a mixed ash-pedunculate oak woodland, with hazel, privet,
dogwood and spindle. On wetter soils, large ash stools occur with
hazel, willow and aspen. Part of Moore Wood, also in the reserve, is
high forest pedunculate oak. Corresponding with the soil variation,
a wide range of field layer types occur; Rubus fruticosus is locally
dominant, but Mercurialis perennis-Endymion non-scriptus is the most
widespread type, with Primula vulgaris, Anemone nemorosa, Lonicera
periclymenum and Euphorbia amygdaloides. Paris quadrifolia, Oxalis
acetosella and Allium ursinum occur on the wetter soils. The rides
and clearings are kept open and this encourages the rich
invertebrate fauna.
The woodlands are a good
example of oak-ash woodland, but their most
important feature is that they constitute part of a complex of
habitats on a range of soil types in a relatively small area.
See also L.8i. |
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W-43- BEDFORD
PURLIEUS GROUP, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, HUNTINGDON AND
PETERBOROUGH
Grade 1
(a) Bedford Purlieus TL
0499. 185 ha
(b) Wittering Coppice TF 0200.
15 ha.
(c) Easton Hornstocks TF 0100.
50 ha
(d) Collyweston Great Wood
TFOOOO. 145 ha
These woods lie mainly
on Jurassic limestone covered in places by
clay drift with patches of sand. Thus, although the soils tend to be
calcareous and poorly drained, there are appreciable areas of freely
drained soils of a variety of texture, and some tracts of acidic,
sandy soils. The coppice in consequence includes a wide range of
types including lime coppice on soils which are appreciably more
calcareous than most of its eastern locations, ash, hazel, wych elm,
maple coppice on calcareous clays, birch and poplar groves, sessile
oak-hazel coppice on acidic sands, valley Ulmus procera woodland and
extensive areas of sycamore invasion.
Bedford Purlieus is clearly
the most important part of the group.
Structurally it is very limited, having been clear- felled in recent
decades and partly replanted. Its outstanding feature is its
assemblage of herbaceous species (over 450 species of vascular
plants have been recorded), which include Euphorbia lathyrus, a
species of national rarity, Melica nutans at the southern edge of
its range, and E. amygdaloides towards its northern limit. Within
this wood both calcicolous and calcifuge species occur together with
those found more commonly in northern and western woodlands,
including Galium odoratum, Melampyrum pratense, Platanthera
chlorantha, Allium ursinum, Conval-laria majalis, Aquilegia
vulgaris, Ophrys insectifera, Blechnum spicant, Paris quadrifolia,
Luzulasylvatica, Atropa belladonna and Serratula tinctoria. On the
grounds of this floristic richness, Bedford Purlieus has been
described as one of the most important woods in Britain.
The fauna is also rich,
and although it is still relatively unknown,
it is regarded as the richest locality in this part of the east
Midlands. Among the butterflies recorded are the white admiral,
pearl- bordered fritillary, the silver washed fritillary, the
dark green fritillary, high brown fritillary, chequered skipper,
brown hairstreak, and white- letter hairstreak. Numerous local moths
have been recorded here. It is an isolated east Midland locality for
both the palmate newt and the adder.
Coppicing has now stopped
entirely in the group. Part of Collyweston
Great Wood has become a plantation whilst the centre was cleared for
an RAF establishment. A large quarry occupies the centre of Easton
Hornstocks. Part of Wittering Coppice has been converted to a poplar
plantation. Substantial areas of Bedford Purlieus have been
replanted with oak, beech and a variety of conifers, and other
sections have been destroyed by quarrying and military needs in
wartime. Despite all this, substantial areas of semi- natural
woodland exist in all four component woods of the site. |
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W.I29- WHITTLEWOOD
FOREST, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
SP 7342. no ha
Grade 2
Three relics of this ancient
woodland, in the south of the county,
still remain. They once formed a link in the chain of woodlands
which stretched across the clay belt from Oxfordshire to Huntingdon
and Peterborough. Lying on calcareous clays and boulder clays they
are typical examples of the woodlands on these soil types.
Buckingham Thick Copse is the largest area; it contains fairly
uniform oak-ash high forest. Understorey and shrub species are
confined to the rides and edges; these include field maple, dogwood,
Midland hawthorn and hazel. Sweet chestnut is also present. The
ground flora is dominated by Rubus fruticosus, Chamaenerion
angustifolium with Deschampsia cespitosa and Brachypodium
sylvaticum. Patches of Lusula multiflora and Carex pendula indicate
waterlogging. Say's and Smalladine Copses are similar but ash or
English elm outnumber the oak in parts. The shrub layer is better
developed here and is dominated by hazel. Cornus sanguined, Euonymus
euro-paeus and Viburnum opulus are common in the hedgerows.
Lichens that are absent
or rare elsewhere in the county are found
here; these include Lecanora confusa, Usnea certatina, Opegrapha
varia and Pertusaria lutescens.
East and West Ashall's
Copses consist of ash scrub and
mature ash woodland and
oak is only locally dominant. English elm
occurs on the edge and hazel, hawthorn, field maple and Midland
hawthorn are present in the understorey and shrub layers. The ground
flora here is dominated by bramble interspersed with areas of
Deschampsia cespitosa, Oxalis acetosella and Glechoma heeleracea.
Other plants include Sanicula europaea, Epipactis helleborine, E.
purpurata and Dactylorchis fuchsii. |
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Grade 2
W.28. BURNHAM BEECHES, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
This woodland occupies a low plateau intersected by shallow valleys, on coarse gravelly
sands
derived from Reading Beds and areas of superimposed plateau gravel. Structurally the woods
are very diverse with ancient pollards, closed stands of younger but mature woodland, old
coppice and scrub by open grassland. Beech is the most abundant species, with pedunculate
oak, birch and holly also locally abundant. The field layer is sparse, with mainly calcifuge
species such as Deschampsia flexuosa, Luzula pilosa, bracken and in open areas heather and
other heathland species. Although it is so close to London, it retains a moderately rich
epiphytic lichen flora, including Graphis elegans and Thelotrema lepadinum. The rare moss
Zygodon forsteri is also recorded. This wood has similarities to the New Forest, but differs
structurally and is inferior in extent, diversity and floristics and so is not an alternative site.
su 9585. 450 ha |
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