Aller and Beer Woods () is a

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. off the A372

Othery The parish and village of Othery, established in 1515, sits on a detached extension of Sowy island on the Somerset Levels. It is east of Bridgwater and north-west of Langport. It borders the hamlets and villages of Pathe, Burrowbridge, Middlez ...

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

road near

Aller Aller may refer to: Places Rivers * Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany *Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain *River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England Inhabited places in the United Kingdom *Aller, Devo ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. It was notified in 1952. This

Somerset Wildlife Trust Somerset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset, England. The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature ...

reserve, which is about north-west of

and south-east of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

, consists of large blocks of semi-natural

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

along the west-facing slope of

Aller Hill Aller Hill () is an 18.4 hectare (45.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Aller in Somerset, notified in 1988. The site contains three species of plant which are nationally rare and a further three which are of restricted ...

, overlooking

King's Sedgemoor King's Sedgemoor is a piece of rich animal habitat and farming land, that forms part of the Somerset Levels and Moors in South West England. The area of King's Sedgemoor fell within the Whitley Hundred, It is a Site of Special Scientific Inte ...

. The reserve is about 40 ha (99 acres) and the underlying geology of most of it is Lias

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Prior to the twentieth century it appears to have been managed for centuries as traditional

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

woodlandd. Aller and Beer Woods are outstanding examples of ancient, escarpment woodland managed in a traditional coppice-with-standards system. The woodland is a variant of the calcareous

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

/Wych elm stand-type, with pedunculate

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(''Quercus robur''), and ash (''Fraxinus excelsior'') the dominant canopy trees throughout, and with scattered concentrations of

Wych elm ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...

(''Ulmus glabra''). Ancient woodland indicators include

small-leaved lime ''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...

(''Tilia cordata''), and wild service tree (''Sorbus torminalis''), both of which are locally common. Plants of particular interest include

bird's nest orchid ''Neottia nidus-avis'', the bird's-nest orchid, is a non- photosynthetic orchid, native to Europe, Russia and some parts of the Middle East. Description ''Neottia nidus-avis'' grows to tall and each shoot can carry up to 60 flowers. Plants a ...

(''Neottia nidus-avis''),

greater butterfly orchid ''Platanthera chlorantha'', commonly known as greater butterfly-orchid, is a species of orchid in the genus '' Platanthera''. It can be found throughout Europe and Morocco. The name ''Platanthera'' is derived from Greek, meaning "broad anthers" ...

(''Platanthera chlorantha'') and the very rare Red Data Book species purple gromwell (''Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum''). Nearby is the

SSSI.

References

{{SSSIs Somerset biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1952 Nature reserves in Somerset Somerset Levels Woodland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Forests and woodlands of Somerset