Danemead is a 5.6-hectare nature reserve west of Hoddesdon in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, managed by the

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly north of London, in Hertfordshire and the historic county of Middlesex, part of which is divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hill ...

. It is part of the

Wormley-Hoddesdonpark Wood North Wormley-Hoddesdonpark Wood North is a woodland area in Hertfordshire which has been designated as a biological site of Special Scientific Interest. The site is listed as Grade 1 in ''A Nature Conservation Review'', and is also designated a Spe ...

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 ...

. The site has hornbeam woodland, damp acid grassland, a stream, scrub and valley mire. There are many butterflies and wild flowers, including meadowsweet and

devil's-bit scabious ''Succisa pratensis'', also known as devil's-bit or devil's-bit scabious, is a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. It differs from other similar species in that it has four-lobed flowers, whereas small scabious and field s ...

. The entrance is on a section of Ermine Street, formerly a major Roman road and now a bridleway. Access is from the Ermine Street carpark on Cock Lane. There is a gate on Cock Lane to a private estate called Danemead Scout Campsite Danemead camp site
which is closed to the public, and the nature reserve is behind the private estate.

Notes

References

{{Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust reserves