Bisham Woods

Bisham Woods is a 86-hectare (210-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) west of Cookham in Berkshire.[1][2] The site is also a Local Nature Reserve[3][4] and part of Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation.[5] The SSSI is part of a 153.2 hectares (379 acres) site, also called Bisham Woods, which is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.[6]

Bisham Woods
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of SearchBerkshire
Grid referenceSU 857 849[1]
InterestBiological
Area86.0 hectares (213 acres)[1]
Notification1984[1]
Location mapMagic Map

The woods have been owned and managed by the Woodland Trust since 1990,[7] and consists of several sections, covering a total of 153.2 hectares (379 acres). The northern part is the ancient woodland SSSI, with compartments known as Quarry Wood, Fultness Wood, High Wood and Inkydown Wood. With the River Thames just to the north, and views across the Chiltern Hills, they include beechwoods, with rare woodland orchids.[8] The remaining compartments, including Park Wood, High Wood, and Goulding's Wood, Carpenters Wood and Dungrovehill Wood are areas of 19th and 20th century planting noted for bluebells.[9][10] These are nearer Maidenhead, near the A308 and A404. The woods are open to the public, and are well served with paths and bridleways, with parking nearby.[11]

Quarry Wood is the site of Bisham Quarry, an important medieval source of stone, much of which was used to build Windsor Castle. From medieval times the woods were part of the extensive Bisham Estates of the Earls of Salisbury.[12] An ice house, built in the 1760s to provide ice for Bisham Abbey is within the woods, and opened to the public four times a year.[6] The Woods are said to have been the original 'Wild Wood' in Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows, which he wrote in the nearby village of Cookham Dean. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed The Revolt of Islam in the area of Bisham Woods in 1817 when he was living at Marlow.[13]

A memorial in Carpenters Wood commemorates the crash site of a Halifax Bomber from the Royal Air Force 578 Squadron, on 18 July 1944. The memorial was dedicated on 18 July 1998.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Designated Sites View: Bisham Woods". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. "Map of Bisham Woods". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  3. "Bisham Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  4. "Map of Bisham Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  5. "Designated Sites View: Chilterns Beechwoods". Special Areas of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  6. Woodland Trust Management Plan 2009-2014
  7. 'Welcome to Bisham Woods.' Information board within the woods,
  8. Wild About Britain Archived December 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Magic Map Application". Magic.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  10. "Natural England - Special Sites". Lnr.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  11. Woodland Trust, 'About this wood'
  12. David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History - Bisham accessed 16 Oct 2011
  13. The Literature Network The Revolt of Islam
  14. RAF Commands Forum
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