Bowdown and Chamberhouse 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 ...
south of
Thatcham
Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London.
Geography
Thatcham straddles t ...
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 ...
.
An area of is a nature reserve managed by the
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It sh ...
.
![Bowdown Woods Nature Reserve map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Bowdown_Woods_Nature_Reserve_map.png)
The site is an area of ancient woodland lying on the scarp slope north of Greenham Common, close to the eastern edge of
Newbury, most of which is a Nature Reserve open to the public.
Nature Reserve
It has a diverse range of tree species, an 'exceptionally rich woodland ground flora' and a diverse fauna, notably birds, reptiles, dragonflies and butterflies.
[
The Nature Reserve is open to the public and has three car parks, all accessed from Bury's Bank Road, between Greenham and Thatcham.][ The three access points relate to the three areas of the reserve, each of which has its own history.
]
Baynes Wood
Baynes Wood (itself comprising Great Wood and Parklodge Gully) is at the south-eastern end of the reserve, and may have been part of Chamberhouse Park. It is shown as woodland on 16th century maps, and was probably coppiced until 1798 when the Tull family bought it. It remained in their family until 1939 when Baynes timber Co acquired it, and promptly felled a considerable proportion of the trees. Following natural regeneration, a further spate of felling occurred in 1981. A re-apraisal of its management at this point enabled the BBOWT to initially rent and then buy the wood, since which it has been managed as a nature reserve.[Reading and District Natural History Society report No 37]
1985, p.14-19
Bowdown Wood
Bowdown Wood is at the opposite end of the reserve, and the first that is known of this woodland is that it was bought by the Dormer family in 1920. They then sold it to the BBOWT in 1984. It is more heavily dissected than the Baynes woods, with a number of valleys cutting through it. Although there is little flowing water there are large areas of permanently waterlogged ground.[
]
Old Bomb Site
Between these two woodlands is the rather more prosaically named Old Bomb Site, which was used by the military during and after World War 2, in conjunction with RAF Greenham Common
Royal Air Force Greenham Common or RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the English county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about west of London.
Opened ...
. This too was acquired by BBOWT, and is now a mozaic of heathland, acid grassland, scrub and woodland.[ The former ammunition stores are still there, in a decayed state, and the rubble provides good habitats for reptiles. This section is also still criss-crossed by a network of concrete paths built for military purposes, but now providing all-weather paths and good access to the site for less mobile visitors.][pdf link for Wildlife Trust Leaflet on Bowdown Woods Nature Reserve]
accessed 19/Oct/2011
West Berkshire Living Landscape
The woods are within the area of the ''West Berkshire Living Landscape'', an initiative headed by the Wildlife Trust to link up areas and 'islands' of rich wildlife to create landscape-scale interlinked habitats.West Berkshire Living Landscape page
accessed 19/Oct/2011 In addition to Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods SSSI, this includes Greenham Common SSSI, the River Kennet and Thatcham Reedbeds SSSI and the areas linking them together, forming a 27 square kilometre area 'for people and wildlife to thrive side by side'.[
]
References
{{Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire
Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1983
Thatcham
Forests and woodlands of Berkshire
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust