This site is made up of several distinct smaller sites, each with their own features, but located together in the Chislehurst area. Scadbury Park is a Local Nature Reserve, with large areas of ancient woodland and undisturbed neutral grassland, around which runs a network of paths providing public access. A third of the land is pasture which is let to a tenant farmer who works the grassland using traditional hay meadow management techniques. A Capital Woodlands project site see related link.Bromley: Walk for Life project uses part of this site a Walking the Way to Health (WHI) scheme; see link for details.The Hawkwood Estate and Pett’s Wood (acquired by the National Trust in 1927) comprise the working farm of Hawkwood and the ancient woodland of Pett’s Wood. Other habitats in the Hawkwood Estate include old hedgerows and several streams with associated wet grassland. The site also includes important railside and farmland habitats, and the large pond in the grounds of Cooper’s School.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Scadbury Park, St Paul's Cray Common, Pett's Wood & Hawkwood Estate
Borough: Bromley
Grade: Metropolitan
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 303.39 ha
Description
Wildlife
This is a large area of varied high quality habitats. A large proportion of the site consists of undisturbed neutral grassland, parts of which are more acidic in character. Scadbury Park is a Local Nature Reserve with large areas of ancient woodland, notably Park Wood. A rich flora supports the London rarities lily-of-the-valley and an abundance of thin-spiked wood-sedge. Ancient parkland oaks are valuable for invertebrates, while ponds set in pasture support large populations of great crested newts. Pond Wood has an unusal flora with many London notable species such as goldilocks buttercup, early purple orchid and early dog-violet. Species of wetland flushes including opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage and marsh marigold are also found here under alder along the peaty soils of the wood's stream and springs. Petts Wood is mostly secondary silver birch and pedunculate oak woodland that has developed over wet and dry heathland, with the ground floras retaining remants of both: heather, bell heather and heathland mosses and Cladonia lichens in the drier areas; in wetter areas, grey willow and downy birch are prominent in the canopy with purple moor-grass and common sedge in the ground flora. Older pedunculate oak woodland has a field layer of bluebell and wood anemone with notable species including Solomon's-seal and lily-of-the-valley. St Paul's Cray Common is now predominantly secondary pedunculate oak and silver birch woodland with dense holly in the under-storey over what was a mix of heath, acid grassland and gorse scrub.Facilities
Field studies centre & working farm; Bromley Council countryside and parks service organise walks, talks and events.
Lily-of-the-valley © Mike Waite
Great crested newt © Unknown
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