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34-677: It has large areas of ancient woodland , especially oaks, and flowers include lily of the valley , which is rare in London. Ponds have London's largest population of protected great crested newts . Much of it is undisturbed grassland, and it also includes a working farm. The main entrance is in Old Perry Street. The entrance piers still exist. Also a West Lodge to the estate still exists, also on Old Perry Street. The London Loop passes through it from Sidcup By-Pass Road near its junction with Perry Street to St Paul's Cray Road. The manor

68-593: A larger woodland owner to ensure conservation. He argued for the preservation of traditional management techniques like coppicing , to let light in to increase in the diversity of the herb layer. In 1986 he published The History of the Countryside , regarded as his greatest achievement and described as "a magisterial 400-page account of the British landscape from prehistory to the present day, with chapters on aspects ranging from woodland and hedgerows to marshes and

102-541: A loss of ancient woodland to forestry. Oliver Rackham Oliver Rackham OBE , FBA (17 October 1939 – 12 February 2015) was an academic at the University of Cambridge who studied the ecology, management and development of the British countryside , especially trees, woodlands and wood pasture . His books included Ancient Woodland (1980) and The History of the Countryside (1986). Rackham

136-459: A mere 3,090 square kilometres (760,000 acres), representing less than 20% of the total wooded area. More than eight out of ten ancient woodland sites in England and Wales are less than 200,000 square metres (49 acres) in area. Only 617 exceed 1 square kilometre (250 acres), which is a relatively small number. Forty-six of these sites exceed 3 square kilometres (740 acres). Most ancient woodland in

170-428: A plantation structure, characterized by even-aged crops of one or two species planted for commercial purposes. Many of these ancient woodlands were transformed into conifer plantations as a consequence of felling operations conducted during wartime. While PAWS sites may not possess the same high ecological value as ASNW, they often contain remnants of semi-natural species where shading has been less intense. This allows for

204-489: A type of ecological indicator . The term is more frequently applied to desiccation -sensitive plant species, and particularly lichens and bryophytes , than to animals. This is due to the slower rate at which they colonise planted woodlands, which makes them more reliable indicators of ancient woodland sites. Sequences of pollen analysis can also serve as indicators of forest continuity. Lists of ancient woodland indicator species among vascular plants were developed by

238-480: Is composed of native tree species that have not obviously been planted. Many of these woods also exhibit features characteristic of ancient woodland, including the presence of wildlife and structures of archaeological interest. Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) are defined as ancient woodland sites where the native species have been partially or wholly replaced with a non-locally native species (usually but not exclusively conifers). These woodlands typically exhibit

272-454: Is first recorded in the thirteenth century, when it was held by the de Scathebury family. In 1424 it was purchased by Thomas Walsingham , a wealthy wine and cloth merchant in the City of London who served as a Member of Parliament in 1410 and 1413. The manor was the seat of his descendants until about 1655. These included Christopher Marlowe 's patron, Sir Thomas Walsingham ; in fact Marlowe

306-498: Is indicative of their significant value to early communities as a source of fuel and, moreover, as a source of food for farm animals. The boundaries are frequently described in terms of features such as large trees, streams or tracks, and even standing stones for example. Ancient woodland sites over 2 hectares (5 acres) in size are recorded in Ancient Woodland Inventories, compiled in the 1980s and 1990s by

340-495: Is known to have been staying at Scadbury Manor just before his violent death in 1593. Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster, Francis Walsingham , was born there. In 1736 Col. John Selwyn purchased the property and owned it until 1742 when he passed it on to Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney , after whom the city of Sydney, Australia was named. The manor was purchased by the London Borough of Bromley in 1983 and opened to

374-441: Is likely to have developed naturally. In most ancient woods, the trees and shrubs have been felled periodically as part of the management cycle. Providing that the area has remained as woodland, the stand is still considered ancient. Since it may have been cut over many times in the past, ancient woodland does not necessarily contain trees that are particularly old. For many animal and plant species, ancient woodland sites provide

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408-410: Is no formal method for reclassifying restored PAWS as ASNW, although some woodland managers now use the acronym RPAWS (Restored Planted Ancient Woodland) for a restored site. Species which are particularly characteristic of ancient woodland sites are called ancient woodland indicator species, such as bluebells , ramsons , wood anemone , yellow archangel and primrose for example, representing

442-409: Is not automatically the case that any given ancient woodland is protected. Some examples of ancient woodland are nationally or locally designated, for example as Sites of Special Scientific Interest . Others lack such designations. Ancient woodlands also require special consideration when they are affected by planning applications. The National Planning Policy Framework , published in 2012, represents

476-525: The Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England ) for each region of England, with each list containing the hundred most reliable indicators for that region. The methodology entailed the study of plants from known woodland sites, with an analysis of their occurrence patterns to determine which species were most indicative of sites from before 1600. In England this resulted in the first national Ancient Woodland Inventory, produced in

510-755: The Nature Conservancy Council in England, Wales, and Scotland; and maintained by its successor organisations in those countries. There was no inventory in Northern Ireland until the Woodland Trust completed one in 2006. Britain's ancient woodland cover has diminished considerably over time. Since the 1930s almost half of the ancient broadleaved woodland in England and Wales have been planted with conifers or cleared for agricultural use. The remaining ancient semi-natural woodlands in Britain cover

544-434: The 1980s. Although ancient woodland indicator species can and do occur in post-1600 woodlands and also in non-woodland sites such as hedgerows , it is uncommon for a site which is not ancient woodland to host a double-figure indicator species total. More recent methodologies also supplement these field observations and ecological measurements with historical data from maps and local records, which were not fully assessed in

578-483: The British government's policy document pertaining to planning decisions affecting ancient woodlands. The irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is elucidated in paragraph 118 of the NPPF, which states: ‘Planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including ancient woodland and the loss of aged or veteran trees found outside ancient woodland, unless

612-739: The Plant Breeding Institute of Cambridge from 1968 to 1972. He transferred to the Department of Geography from 1988 to 2000, latterly as Professor, and was appointed Honorary Professor of Historical ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences in 2006 and Honorary Director of the Cambridge Centre for Landscape and People in 2010. Rackham also worked as a tutor in the Kingcombe Centre in Dorset , teaching about

646-455: The UK has been managed in some way by humans for hundreds (in some cases probably thousands) of years. Two traditional techniques are coppicing (the practice of harvesting wood by cutting trees back to ground level) and pollarding (harvesting wood at approximately human head height to prevent new shoots being eaten by grazing species such as deer). Both techniques encourage new growth while allowing

680-576: The United States, Canada and Australia (for woodlands that do contain very old trees) is " old-growth forest ". Ancient woodland is formally defined on maps by Natural England and equivalent bodies. Mapping of ancient woodland has been undertaken in different ways and at different times, resulting in a variable quality and availability of data across regions, although there are some efforts to standardise and update it. A variety of indirect legal protections exist for many ancient woodlands, but it

714-431: The complete uprooting of trees within the woodland of the afforested area. Ancient woods were well-defined, often being surrounded by a bank and ditch, which allowed them to be more easily recognised. The bank may also support a living fence of hawthorn or blackthorn to prevent livestock or deer from entering the area. Since they are attracted by young shoots on coppice stools as a food source, they must be excluded if

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748-503: The coppice is to regenerate. Such indicators can still be observed in many ancient woodlands, and large forests are often subdivided into woods and coppices with banks and ditches as was the case in the past. The hedges at the margins are often overgrown and may have spread laterally due to the neglect of many years. Many ancient woods are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, as well as in the earlier Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . This

782-430: The gradual restoration of more semi-natural structures through gradual thinning is often possible. Since the ecological and historical values of ancient woodland were recognized, PAWS restoration has been a priority amongst many woodland owners and governmental and non-governmental agencies. Various grant schemes have also supported this endeavor. Some restored PAWS sites are now practically indistinguishable from ASNW. There

816-603: The history of woodlands. He was associated with Corpus Christi College from his student days. He briefly served as Master of the College from 2007 to 2008, and was made a Life Fellow in 2010. Rackham was a prolific historical ecologist whose prime interest was the function, history, and management of British woodlands. He kept a series of notebooks, which he began during his youth and continued until his death, in which he recorded observations on plants seen in his home surroundings and on his travels, in addition to information about

850-666: The need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss.’ The concept of ancient woodland, characterised by high plant diversity and managed through traditional practices, was developed by the ecologist Oliver Rackham in his 1980 book Ancient Woodland, its History, Vegetation and Uses in England , which he wrote following his earlier research on Hayley Wood in Cambridgeshire . The definition of ancient woodland includes two sub-types: Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) and Planted ancient woodland site (PAWS). Ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW)

884-454: The original Nature Conservancy Council surveys. Ancient woods were valuable properties for their landowners, serving as a source of wood fuel , timber ( estovers and loppage) and forage for pigs ( pannage ). In southern England, hazel was particularly important for coppicing , whereby the branches were used for wattle and daub in buildings, for example. Such old coppice stumps are easily recognised for their current overgrown state, given

918-532: The public in 1985. 51°24′47″N 0°05′38″E  /  51.413°N 0.094°E  / 51.413; 0.094 Ancient woodland In the United Kingdom , ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England , Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland ). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600

952-557: The sea." The book won several awards for literature. His other books include Woodlands (2006), in the Collins New Naturalist series, and he also wrote on Hatfield Forest . As well as working in England, he studied and published extensively on the ecology and landscape of Crete , co-writing The Making of the Cretan Landscape with Jenny Moody in 1998, and latterly leading a (failed) protest against

986-400: The sole habitat. Furthermore, for many others, the conditions prevailing on these sites are much more suitable than those on other sites. Ancient woodland in the UK, like rainforest in the tropics, serves as a refuge for rare and endangered species. Consequently, ancient woodlands are frequently described as an irreplaceable resource, or 'critical natural capital '. The analogous term used in

1020-485: The sustainable production of timber and other woodland products. During the 20th century, the use of such traditional management techniques has declined, concomitant with an increase in large-scale mechanized forestry. Consequently, coppicing is now seldom practiced, and overgrown coppice stools are a common feature in many ancient woods, with their numerous trunks of similar size. These shifts in management practices have resulted in alternations to ancient woodland habitats and

1054-683: The waning prevalence of the practice. In such overgrown coppice stools, large boles emerge from a common stump. The term 'forest' originally encompassed more than just woodland. It also referred to areas such as parkland , open heathland , upland fells, and any other territory situated between or outside of manorial freehold. These forests were the exclusive hunting preserve of the monarch or granted to nobility. The ancient woods that were situated within forests were frequently designated as Royal Parks . These were afforded special protection against poachers and other interlopers, and subject to tolls and fines where trackways passed through them or when firewood

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1088-627: The weather and his college duties. Arising from his research on Hayley Wood in Cambridgeshire, he developed the concept of ancient woodland , rich in plant diversity and managed through traditional practices. His 1980 book Ancient Woodland, its History, Vegetation and Uses in England led to the recognition of such areas by the Forestry Commission and in planning legislation. It also helped to alter forestry industry views about woodland conservation. The Woodland Trust became

1122-606: Was born in Bungay in Suffolk, and attended King Edward VI School , and then Norwich City College . In 1958 he won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge , graduating in Natural Sciences in 1961 and subsequently gaining a PhD. He began his academic career studying physics, but moved between several Cambridge departments. He conducted research in the Department of Botany from 1964 to 1968 and 1972 to 1990, and

1156-425: Was permitted to be collected or other licenses granted. The forest law was rigorously enforced by a hierarchy of foresters, parkers and woodwards. In English land law , it was illegal to assart any part of a royal forest . This constituted the gravest form of trespass that could be committed in a forest, being more than a waste. While waste involved the felling of trees, which could be replaced, assarting entailed

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