Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The site contains an extensive mosaic of habitats and occurs on acid soils derived from Blackheath pebble beds and Thanet sands. The woodland canopy is mostly secondary oak with local dominance of birch and some beech, ash, sycamore and coppiced hornbeam and sweet chestnut. Rhododendron grows through much of the central part of the woodland and the remaining shrub layer is fairly dense, with hawthorn, elder, young sycamore and snowberry. Bracken, bramble and ivy form the main ground flora with nettle abundant in places. Dog's mercury, false-brome, field rose, and lords-and-ladies also grow here. In larger clearings, foxglove, bluebell, violets, barren strawberry, soft-shield fern, southern woodrush and prickly sedge can be found. The once large pond in the middle of the site is now comprised of a much smaller pond with little vegetation and an area of wet ground dominated by yellow iris and soft rush with smaller amounts of the London notable species cyperus sedge. The pond has supported a large population of great crested newts, with palmate newts, smooth newts, frogs and grass snakes also recorded here. Large red and azure damselflies breed in the pond. An unusual patch of grassland can be found in the north-east of the site and contains a good diversity of both acid and calcareous plants, including heath woodrush, yellow-wort, knotted and hare's-foot clovers , bird's-foot, blue fleabane (Erigeron acer), heath bedstraw, crosswort, harebell and tormentil. The site attracts a variety of birds that feed on the abundant insects here.

Facilities

Walking route