Foxley Wood is a nature reserve in

Foxley Foxley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is about 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Norwich and 9 miles (14 km) south-east of Fakenham. It covers an area of and had a population of 279 in 113 ho ...

, Norfolk, England, the largest ancient woodland and coppice in Norfolk. The Norfolk Wildlife Trust, which manages this reserve, bought it in 1998. It is in size. It is a

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 ...

, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and a National Nature Reserve.

Location and history

Foxley Wood is north-west of Norwich, away from the Fakenham road (the

A1067 A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

), near

Honeypot Wood Honeypot Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Dereham in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust This is an ancient coppiced wood on calcareous soil. It has a rich ground layer, which is dominated by dog ...

. The nature reserve is currently the largest ancient woodland and coppice in Norfolk. The woodland is recorded in Domesday Book and parts of it are known to be over 6,000 years old. For the past 1,000 years, it was a source of wood (including hazel), but demand decreased in the 20th century. Because of the drop in demand, Foxley Wood became neglected. In the 1990s it was privately owned and managed by the Forestry Commission, and was acquired by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust in 1998. It is open to the public every day except Thursday.

Flora and fauna

The woodland is rich in flora with over 250 species recorded. These include

herb paris ''Paris quadrifolia'', the herb Paris or true lover's knot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It occurs in temperate and cool areas throughout Eurasia, from Spain to Yakutia, and from Iceland to Mongolia. It prefers ...

, early purple orchid, lily of the valley, common bluebell, dog's mercury, purple hairstreak, meadowsweet, water avens, fleabane (common name for flowering plants in family Asteraceae) and meadow brown. Bluebells are among the main attractions for visitors in spring. Trees growing in the reserve include oak (found in the centre of the wood on sandy ground Conifers were planted throughout as timber, disturbing the original distribution of stand types; they are being removed. Areas have been indiscriminately sprayed with herbicides in the past. Fauna include insects such as

dark bush-cricket The dark bush-cricket (''Pholidoptera griseoaptera'') is a flightless species of European bush-cricket; it is the type species of its genus with no subspecies. Description ''Pholidoptera griseoaptera'' can reach a body length of 11 to 21 ...

s, white admiral and ringlet butterflies, and bird species such as sparrowhawks, tawny owls,

great spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...

s and

European green woodpecker The European green woodpecker (''Picus viridis'') is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the ...

s. Songbirds and sparrowhawks are popular sights. Besides conifer planting, spraying with herbicides, and the cutting of all saleable trees (before the Forestry Commission began managing the wood), the wood is damaged by roads and ditches resulting from timber exploitation: "Foxley Wood has been badly damaged by modern forestry."

References

{{Norfolk Wildlife Trust Forests and woodlands of Norfolk Norfolk Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk