Ashridge Wood

This article is about the forest in Berkshire. For the country estate in Hertfordshire, see Ashridge.

Ashridge Wood (grid reference SU500784) is a 15.6ha biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Beedon and Compton in West Berkshire District, Berkshire, UK (near RG20 8AB). It is within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The wood is a surviving section of a once larger ancient coppiced woodland, although part was planted with conifers during the 20th century. Notified as an SSSI in 1954, it is particularly notable for its flowering woodland plants, including an abundance of Spiked Star-of-Bethlehem Ornithogalum pyrenaicum.^[1] Ash predominates, with Cherry, Oak, Sallow and Whitebeam scattered throughout. Most of the conifers had been removed by 2009.^[2]

A visit by the Reading & District Natural History Society in June 2009 identified 34 species of flowering plants, 7 different lichens on Ash trees within the wood, and 22 species of insects.^[3]

References

↑ English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 27 December 2007)
↑ English Nature Evaluation, 2009
↑ Reading & District Natural History Society blog June 27th, 2009

External links

English Nature website (SSSI information)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire

Aldermaston Gravel Pits Ashridge Wood Avery's Pightle Bisham Woods Blackwater Valley Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods Boxford Chalk Pit Boxford Water Meadows Bray Meadows Bray Pennyroyal Field Briff Lane Meadows Brimpton Pit Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths Cannoncourt Farm Pit Catmore and Winterly Copses Chawridge Bourne Chilton Foliat Meadows Cleeve Hill Cock Marsh Cold Ash Quarry Combe Wood, Frilsham Croker's Hole Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods Easton Farm Meadow Enborne Copse Englemere Pond Fognam Chalk Quarry Freeman's Marsh Great Thrift Wood Greenham and Crookham Commons Hampstead Marshall Pit Heath Lake Hog's Hole Holies Down Inkpen and Walbury Hills Inkpen Common Inkpen Crocus Fields Irish Hill Copse Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain Kennet Valley Alderwoods King's Copse Lardon Chase Lodge Wood and Sandford Mill Longmoor Bog Old Copse, Beenham Parkfarm Down Pincent's Kiln Redhill Wood River Kennet River Lambourn Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths Seven Barrows Snelsmore Common Stanford End Mill and River Loddon Streatley Warren Sulham and Tidmarsh Woods and Meadows Swinley Park and Brick Pits Thatcham Reed Beds Wasing Wood Ponds Wellington College Bog West Woodhay Down West's Meadow, Aldermaston Westfield Farm Chalk Bank White Shute Windsor Forest and Great Park Winterbourne Chalk Pit Woolhampton Reed Bed Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit Wykery Copse

Neighbouring areas Buckinghamshire Hampshire London Oxfordshire Surrey Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°30′08″N 1°16′52″W / 51.50233°N 1.28104°W / 51.50233; -1.28104

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 24, 2012. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Ashridge Wood

See also

References

External links