Eight Acre Coppice

Eight Acre Coppice is a Hazel coppice with Oak standards. It had been neglected for many years before it became a Local Nature Reserve (LNR)and the hazel was very overgrown. Worked coppice woods are particularly good for wildlife as coppicing opens up the ground to light on a cyclical rotation. Some areas have been left with little intervention to become more “natural”to encourage nesting birds that might use the ivy cover. Some areas have been coppiced to encourage the bluebells that had become rather poor under the shade of neglected coppice. Other areas have had holly reduced to let in more light to improve conditions for lichens. To achieve this work groups of volunteers meet occasionally to manage the wood. In summer bat spotting and moth watches have been held.

While the wood is mainly Oak and Hazel there are many other species of tree and a diverse flora. So far some 300 species of insects have been recorded in the wood and as can be seen at the bottom of this page some very varied fungi.