Tile Hill Wood is a

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

between Hawthorn Lane and Banner Lane in the

Tile Hill Tile Hill is a suburb in the west of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is mostly residential and partly industrial, with some common land and wooded areas. Tile Hill railway station is located on the West Coast Main Line which links Covent ...

area of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve. It is stewarded by the Coventry and District Natural History and Scientific Society. It is a mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland covering , with examples of Norway Spruce,

European Larch ''Larix decidua'', the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains as well as the Pyrenees, with disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland and southern Lithuania. It ...

and Hazel coppice, together with Sycamore, Oak, Spruce, Birch, Chestnut, Ash and Pine. There are specially-built paths suitable for people with disabilities (660 m). These have metal tap rails for people with visual impairment. From 1930, Coventry Corporation established the wood as a

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and it had a regular forester assigned to it. Rides were kept clear and the removal of waste was carried out by horse and cart rather than by tractor or lorry. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, large areas of scrub and conifers were cleared to reduce the risk of fire from air-raids. During the cyclonic gale of March 1947, five acres (2 ha) of mature spruce were uprooted. These were replaced with young trees over several years, and helped to alter the ecological balance of the reserve. The wood received SSSI status in 1952. The status was renewed in 1986 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981. The site is an example of semi-natural woodland, and one of the last remaining in the county. The ground cover includes

bramble A bramble is any rough, tangled, prickly shrub, usually in the genus ''Rubus'', which grows blackberries, raspberries, or dewberries. "Bramble" is also used to describe other prickly shrubs, such as roses (''Rosa'' species). The fruits inclu ...

and

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...

, with

wavy hair-grass ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America. Description Wavy hair-grass, ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', has wir ...

, creeping soft-grass,

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...

, and great wood-rush. Typical woodland plants include wood-sorrel, primrose and bluebells. In the wetter areas woodmillet and remote sedge are found. A pools near the north edge supports bog mosses, marsh cinquefoil, and cyperus sedge. A small mire is rich with mosses and has some clumps of

bottle sedge ''Carex rostrata'', the bottle sedge or beaked sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae. Range and habitat The species is native to Holarctic fens and can be found in Canada and the northern part of the United States, and ...

and

white sedge White sedge is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *'' Carex alba'', native to temperate woodlands of Eurasia *''Carex albida ''Carex lemmonii'', or Lemmon's sedge, is a plant in the sedge family, and is endemic to California. ''Ca ...

. Uncommon fungi on the site include '' Clavaria rosea'', the first time it has been recorded in the county.

References

{{Coord, 52.406, -1.589, type:forest_region:GB-COV, display=title Coventry Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the West Midlands (county) Local Nature Reserves in the West Midlands (county)