This old oak woodland was first shown on Thomas Bainbridge’s map of Croydon in 1800. Although the surrounding fields have been built on, the wood itself has remained almost unchanged in shape since then. The land was purchased as public open space in 1924. The eastern section is managed as a bird sanctuary with no official access.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Long Lane Wood
Borough: Croydon
Grade: Borough Grade II
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 6.2 ha
Description
Wildlife
The woodland outside the sanctuary is managed as parkland, preventing the generation of any lower-level trees. However in the east, silver birch joins the oak and an understorey of rowan, whitebeam and field maple has developed with hazel and hawthorn. Wood anemone and southern wood-rush occur here. Some of the more notable plants include common cow-wheat, slender St John's-wort and wood small-reed. There is a good population of purple hairstreak butterflies.Facilities
No information available
Slender St John’s-wort © Mike Waite
Feedback
Have a question or a comment for this site, or notice anything missing or out of date? Please contact us.