Old Lodge is a
Local Nature Reserve west of
Crowborough
Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...
in
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
. It is privately owned. It is managed by
Sussex Wildlife Trust.
It is part of
Ashdown Forest, which is a
Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a
Special Area of Conservation, a
Special Protection Area and 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 ...
.
This highland site is mainly grassland and heather, with areas of gorse and scattered
birch,
oak, and
Scots pine trees. Birds include
common redstart
The common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus ''Phoenicurus''. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be ...
and
common crossbill
The red crossbill or common crossbill (''Loxia curvirostra'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other ...
s and there are large nests of
red wood ants.
[
]
References
{{Sussex Wildlife Trust
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Local Nature Reserves in East Sussex
Hartfield