Lower Woods () is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of

Wickwar Wickwar is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located between Yate and Charfield. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,943. History Wickwar was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a site. The site is 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 ...

managed by the

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gl ...

. Lower Woods are the most extensive area of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

s and seminatural woodland in the former county of Avon and now in

. It is one of the largest ancient woodlands in the south-west of England and covers some three square kilometres. There are three waymarked trails and over sixty miles of paths, rides and wide grassy 'trenches' (ancient roads).2011, 'Nature Reserves Guide', Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, issued to celebrate its 50th Anniversary This large reserve is made up of twenty-three woods and coppices, the boundaries of which have remained unchanged for several centuries. The woods are linked by a network of grass trenches and ridges. The

Little Avon River The Little Avon River is a small river partly in southern Gloucestershire and partly in South Gloucestershire. For much of its length it forms the boundary between the county of Gloucestershire and the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. I ...

runs through the centre of the site. The woods are situated in the damp clay soils of the Vale of Berkeley and are made up of the distinct woodlands as well as grassland areas.Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al, 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust' The site is adjacent to Yarley Meadows which is also an SSSI.

Geology

The site contains significant exposures of clays, shales, limestones and bone-beds (''Rhaetic'' time period). These would have been laid down some 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. The exposures in this area have been a source of research for some 150 years, notably the units called the Westbury Beds, the Cotham Beds and the ''Liostrea'' Beds. The site has two horizons of Landscape Marble and outcrops of conglomeratic bone-beds (in the Westbury shales). The latter contain a significant amount of fossil fish, and sedimentological features.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
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The woodland

Fuller information is available from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook and the Trust publication on the natural history of the site.Martin M, Rowlatt, S (editors), 2001(published), 'The Natural History of Lower Woods in 2000 AD', Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, (includes list of contributors) Large parts of the woodland are traditional coppice-with-standards, with

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

over hazel coppice. There is a wide range other shrubs including

field maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

goat willow ''Salix caprea'', known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook 4. . Des ...

spindle Spindle may refer to: Textiles and manufacturing * Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn * Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool Biology * Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus ''Euony ...

, wild privet,

midland hawthorn ''Crataegus laevigata'', known as the Midland hawthorn, English hawthorn, woodland hawthorn, or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from Great Britain (where it is typically found in ancient woodland and old ...

and

guelder-rose ''Viburnum opulus'', the guelder-rose or guelder rose () is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae) native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduous shr ...

. There are dense stands of

wild service tree ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...

which is an indicator of ancient woodland. There is some

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

and along the riverside

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

. Some of the wood has developed to a high forest structure.

Woodland flowers

Fuller information is available from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook. Typical woodland flowers include bluebell, wood anemone,

early-purple orchid ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

, primrose,

ramsons ''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amary ...

(wood garlic), common dog-violet and

yellow archangel ''Lamium galeobdolon'', commonly known as yellow archangel, artillery plant, aluminium plant, or yellow weasel-snout, is a widespread wildflower in Europe, and has been introduced elsewhere as a garden plant. It displays the zygomorphic flower mo ...

. Uncommon species are

meadow saffron ''Colchicum autumnale'', commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, or naked ladies, is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, whi ...

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 ...

common cow-wheat ''Melampyrum pratense'', the common cow-wheat, is a plant species in the family Orobanchaceae. The seed of the plant has an elaiosome, which is attractive to wood ants (''Formica'' spp.). The ants disperse the seeds of the plant when they tak ...

, bitter-vetch and

violet helleborine ''Epipactis purpurata'', the violet helleborine, is an orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the ...

. The grassy rides support betony,

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 ...

saw-wort ''Serratula tinctoria'', commonly known as dyer's plumeless saw-wort or saw-wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a native of Europe with a thistle-like flower head. It grows in moist soil, full sun to part shade, ...

, common spotted-orchid,

greater knapweed ''Centaurea scabiosa'', or greater knapweed, is a perennial plant of the genus '' Centaurea''. It is native to Europe and bears purple flower heads. Greater knapweed is found growing in dry grasslands, hedgerows and cliffs on lime-rich soil. Up ...

, greater butterfly-orchid, cowslip and yellow-rattle. The damper rides supports lesser spearwort,

ragged-robin ''Silene flos-cuculi'' (syn. ''Lychnis flos-cuculi''), commonly called ragged-robin, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. This species is native to Europe and Asia, where it is found along roads and in wet meadows and p ...

, marsh ragwort,

brooklime ''Veronica beccabunga'', the European speedwell or brooklime, is a succulent herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae. It grows on the margins of brooks and ditches in Europe, North Africa, and north and ...

and various sedges and rushes.

Mammals, birds and invertebrates

The site supports common dormouse and lesser horseshoe bat in particular. The site is considered as the most important in South Gloucestershire for

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is no ...

s. Also recorded are

woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

lesser spotted woodpecker The lesser spotted woodpecker (''Dryobates minor'') is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus ''Dendrocopos'' (sometimes incorrectly spelt as ''Dendrocopus''). Some taxonomic authorities continue to list t ...

wood warbler The wood warbler (''Phylloscopus sibilatrix'') is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asian Russia in the southern Ural Mountains. This warbler is stro ...

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, a ...

and turtle dove. The grassy rises, meadows and open coppice areas are ideal for rarer butterflies including white admiral,

purple hairstreak The purple hairstreak (''Favonius quercus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae distributed throughout much of Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, Caucasia, and Transcaucasia. The larva feeds on ''Quercus robur'', ''Quercus petraea'', ''Querc ...

silver-washed fritillary The silver-washed fritillary (''Argynnis paphia'') is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palearctic realm – Algeria, Europe, temperate Asia, and Japan. Description The silver-washed fritillary butterfly is deep orange with ...

dingy skipper The Dingy Skipper (''Erynnis tages'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Description ''Erynnis tages'' is different from other skippers because of the predominantly monochrome, gray-brown wing coloration and the marbling, which is only ...

and brown argus.

Conservation

The main aims are to monitor the maintenance and enhancement of existing grassland areas, the coppice regimes and to remove exotic species of conifer and hybrid poplar. Coppice must be maintained at-standards. Scrub cutting is done in the original trenches, ensuring exposure of the old wood banks and ditches.

Publications

* Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, ''et al.'', 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust' * Martin M (editor), 1996, 2004 (revised second edition), 'Lower Woods Nature Reserve – A Guide', Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust * Martin M, Rowlatt, S (editors), 2001(published), 'The Natural History of Lower Woods in 2000 AD', Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, (includes list of contributors) * 'Lower Woods Nature Reserve – Information and Waymarked Walks', (undated), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

References

SSSI source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Lower Woods units

External links

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Natural England
(SSSI information) {{SSSIs Gloucs geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1966 South Gloucestershire District Forests and woodlands of Gloucestershire Woodland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Nature reserves in Gloucestershire