Hayley Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Great Gransden in Cambridgeshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, and it is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. It was the subject of a book by the academic and woodland expert Oliver Rackham, listed below.

History

A large wood in this area of the parish was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, but by 1251 it had been split into two: Hayley Wood (40 acres) and Littlehound Wood (32 acres). Agriculture in the area declined after 1350 and the wooded area expanded; by 1650, Hayley Wood covered and Littlehound 40 acres. In around 1655, Littlehound was 'new stubbed' and disappeared under cultivation, although its outline can still be seen in the form of field boundaries.'Parishes: Little Gransden', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5
(1973), pp. 87-99. Retrieved 10 April 2009 Hayley Wood was confiscated from the Bishop of Ely by Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth in 1579 and whenceforth became privately owned.Rackham, Oliver (1997). ''The Illustrated History of the Countryside''. Second Edition. Phoenix Illustrated, London. pp98-101. The Varsity Line - a railway between Bedford and Cambridge - ran along the wood's northern edge between 1863-1969. Now disused and dismantled, its bed hosts a variety of flowers such as hairy violet and clustered bellflower. In 1962, Hayley Wood was the first site to be purchased by the recently formed Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Naturalists' Trust (now the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire).

Geography

Hayley Wood lies in the south-east corner of the civil parish of Little Gransden in Cambridgeshire, 10 miles (17 km) south-west of Cambridge and 45 miles (73 km) north of London.Streetmap.co.uk
Retrieved 10 April 2009 The clay soil is heavy, leading to waterlogged conditionsNatural England SSSI citation
Retrieved 10 April 2009 on the flat hilltop.

Flora and fauna

The structure of Hayley Wood is coppice-with-standards of Acer campestre, field maple, Fraxinus excelsior, ash, Corylus avellana, hazel and Crataegus, hawthorn species, with a canopy of Quercus robur, pedunculate oak and small areas of Ulmus minor, small-leaved elm. Most of the oak trees date from between 1780–1840, older than most woodland oaks. The soil favours Primula elatior, oxlip and Filipendula ulmaria, meadowsweet – the wood is described as 'one of the largest Primula elatior, oxlip woods on the chalky Boulder Clay in Britain'. Hyacinthoides non-scripta, bluebell and Lamiastrum galeobdolon, yellow archangel grow in drier parts. Plants typical of ancient woodland, including Anemone nemorosa, wood anemone, dog's mercury and early purple orchid, grow; Neottia nidus-avis, bird's-nest orchid and Carex pallescens, pale sedge can also be found.

Management

There are many ancient coppice stools in the wood; coppicing was practiced from at least the 13th Century until the early 20th Century, with a revival from 1964. Dead wood is left as it is an excellent habitat for Marchantiophyta, liverworts and woodpeckers. The rides and glades are mown to keep nutrient levels down. Most of the wood is surrounded by a fence, erected in 1972, to exclude deer, which has had the effect of reversing the decline in Hayley Wood's Primula elatior, Oxlip population.

Access

There is access from the B1046 road by Hayley Lane.

References

Sources

Oliver Rackham, 1975: ''Hayley Wood; its history and ecology''; Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Naturalists' Trust Ltd. {{Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Nature reserves in Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire reserves Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire Forests and woodlands of Cambridgeshire Nature Conservation Review sites