__NOTOC__ Big Wood and Little Wood are two patches of woodland in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentie ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough ...

. They are a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, and a Local Nature Reserve. Big Wood is 7.3 hectares and Little Wood is 1.2 hectares. The woods have been a forest for over 1000 years, and were probably part of land given to Wealdheri,

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in about 704. The area remained in church ownership until the twentieth century, and in 1911 the woods were part of lands leased to the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust by the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

. In 1933 the freehold of the woods was transferred to Finchley Urban District Council,Finchley Urban District Council became the

Municipal Borough of Finchley Finchley, which is now in north London, was a local government district in Middlesex, England, from 1878 to 1965. Finchley Local Board first met in 1878. It became Finchley District Council in 1895 and the Municipal Borough of Finchley in 1933. I ...

later in 1933. and in 1965 the land passed to its successor, the

. Prior to the construction of the Denman Drive North and South in 1912 on the field between Little and Big Woods, the land was used for grazing elephants. Pedunculate oak is the main canopy tree, together with sessile oak, hornbeam and wild cherry. It also contains an unusually large population of

wild service tree ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...

s, while the undergrowth is dominated by bramble and ivy, with many bluebells. Breeding birds include tawny owl, nuthatch and treecreeper. At the Temple fortune Hill entrance to Big Wood there is a new gate donated by local people as a memorial to 29 Garden Suburb residents who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It stands on an ancient eighth century boundary. Little Wood has an open-air theatre built in 1920. There is access to Big Wood from Northway, Temple Fortune Hill, Oakwood Road and Denman Drive South, and to Little Wood from Denman Drive North and Addison Way.

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* {{LNRs in Greater London Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Barnet Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barnet Forests and woodlands of London Hampstead Garden Suburb

See also

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