Bisham Woods is an 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 ...
(SSSI) west of
Cookham in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
The site is also a
Local Nature Reserve and part of Chilterns Beechwoods
Special Area of Conservation. The SSSI is part of a site, also called Bisham Woods, which has been owned and managed by the
Woodland Trust since 1990.
[Woodland Trust Management Plan 2009-2014]
/ref>
The woods consist of several sections. The northern part is the ancient woodland SSSI, with compartments known as Quarry Wood, Fultness Wood, High Wood and Inkydown Wood. With the River Thames just to the north, and views across the Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England.
The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
, they include beechwoods, with rare woodland orchids. The remaining compartments, including Park Wood, High Wood, Goulding's Wood, Carpenters Wood and Dungrovehill Wood, are areas of 19th- and 20th-century planting noted for bluebells. These are nearer Maidenhead, near the A308 and A404. The woods are open to the public, and are well served with paths and bridleways, with parking nearby.
Quarry Wood is the site of Bisham Quarry, an important medieval source of stone, much of which was used to build Windsor Castle. From medieval times the woods were part of the extensive Bisham Estates of the Earls of Salisbury. An ice house, built in the 1760s to provide ice for Bisham Abbey, is within the woods, and opened to the public four times a year.[ The woods are the original 'Wild Wood' in Kenneth Grahame's '' Wind in the Willows'', which he wrote in the nearby village of Cookham Dean. ]Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
composed '' The Revolt of Islam'' in the area of Bisham Woods in 1817 when he was living at Marlow.
A memorial in Carpenters Wood commemorates the crash site of a Halifax Bomber from the Royal Air Force 578 Squadron, on 18 July 1944. The memorial was dedicated on 18 July 1998.RAF Commands Forum
/ref>
See also
* List of Ancient Woods in England
* List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
English Nature website
(SSSI information)
Bisham Woods
on the VisitWoods website
Woodland Trust Management Plan 2009-2014
{{National and local nature reserves in Berkshire
Bisham
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Forests and woodlands of Berkshire
Local Nature Reserves in Berkshire
Special Areas of Conservation in England