Castern Wood

Last updated

Castern Wood
Hillside of Castern Wood Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 1233886.jpg
Hillside of the nature reserve
Staffordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Staffordshire
Castern Wood
Location Manifold Valley
OS grid SK 118 532
Coordinates 53°4′33″N1°49′31″W / 53.07583°N 1.82528°W / 53.07583; -1.82528 Coordinates: 53°4′33″N1°49′31″W / 53.07583°N 1.82528°W / 53.07583; -1.82528
Area21 hectares (52 acres)
Operated by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
Designation Site of Special Scientific Interest
Special Area of Conservation
Website www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/nature-reserves/castern-wood

Castern Wood is a nature reserve of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. It is an ancient woodland, with scrub and grassland, on the eastern slopes of the Manifold Valley, about 1 mile south of Wetton, in Staffordshire, England.

Contents

The reserve is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. [1]

Description

There is a car park a short distance from the reserve at Weags Bridge. The circular walk through Castern Wood is very steep in places. [1]

The area of the reserve is 21 hectares (52 acres). Trees in the ancient woodland include ash, field maple, hazel and oak. There is also scrub and grassland. To prevent the grassland becoming scrub, and the scrub becoming woodland, the site is managed; since cattle grazing is difficult to arrange on this relatively inaccessible site, clearing scrub from grassland is done by volunteers. [1]

Many plant species grow on the limestone soil, including small scabious, ladies mantle, salad burnet and several species of orchid. Woodland plants include dog's mercury and wood avens. [1]

Related Research Articles

Windsor Hill Biological Site

Windsor Hill is a 61.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire. It lies within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is featured in the Nature Conservation Review. A small part is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and access to this area requires a permit.

Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of Ashford in Kent, England. The Green Corridor is made up of parks, recreation grounds and other green spaces alongside the rivers that flow through Ashford. It is a Local Nature Reserve.

Cheddar Wood

Cheddar Wood is an 86.9-hectare (215-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1967.

Lower Woods

Lower Woods is a 280.1-hectare (692-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a 284.1-hectare (702-acre) site. The site is a nature reserve managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Cheddar Complex Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England

The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1952.

Midger

Midger is a 65.7-hectare (162-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest straddling the border of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1984. Since the last revision in 1974, the size has been reduced to a 56-hectare (140-acre) site. It lies east of Hillesley, Gloucestershire and north of Hawkesbury Upton, South Gloucestershire. It is at the head of the Kilcott Valley.

Barle Valley

Barle Valley is a 1,540 acres (620 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest within Exmoor National Park, situated in the counties of Devon and Somerset through which the River Barle flows. It was notified in its current form under the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1988. The site includes the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and the Knaplock and North Barton SSSI which has been notified since 1954.

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands is a 26.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Stoke St Mary in Somerset, notified in 1963.

Strawberry Banks Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Strawberry Banks is a 5.06-hectare (12.5-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1993.

Hothfield Common

Hothfield Common is a 56.5-hectare (140-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Ashford in Kent. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, and is part of the 86-hectare (210-acre) Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve owned by Ashford Borough Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.

Park Gate Down

Park Gate Down or Parkgate Down is a 7-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Stelling Minnis in Kent. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust,

Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods

Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods is a 67.9-hectare (168-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Thatcham in Berkshire. An area of 55 hectares is a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 17.7-hectare (44-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aldermaston in Berkshire. An area of 8 hectares is a nature reserve called Decoy Heath, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Daneway Banks SSSI Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Daneway Banks is a 17-hectare (42-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954 and renotified in 1983. It lies half a mile west of Sapperton and is part of a group of wildlife sites in the Frome Valley that includes Siccaridge Wood and Sapperton Canal reserves. The site is in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wotton Hill Hill in Gloucestershire, England

Wotton Hill is a hill on the edge of the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire, England, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of Wotton-under-Edge. The Cotswold Way passes over the hill.

Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill is a 42.33-hectare (104.6-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 as an SSSI and Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).

Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Shorn Cliff And Caswell Woods is a 69.2-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1986. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Dancersend

Dancersend is an 81.3 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. Part of the site is managed by the Forestry Commission and part by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). The BBOWT's 47 hectare nature reserve, called Dancersend with Pavis Woods, extends into fields west of the SSSI. It is in the Chilterns Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Swains Wood

Swain's Wood is a 16.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Turville in Buckinghamshire. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Cotton Dell is a nature reserve of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. It is a wooded valley area near the village of Cotton and about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of the village of Oakamoor, in Staffordshire, England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Castern Wood" Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 29 April 2021.