Dulwich Upper Wood is a 2.4 hectare [1] local nature reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, [2] in Crystal Palace in the London Borough of Southwark. It is owned by Southwark Council and managed by the Trust for Urban Ecology. [3] [4]
The wood was once part of the Great North Wood in the Manor of Dulwich. After the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park closed, the building was moved and re-erected on Penge Common, adjoining the wood. The area was rapidly developed, becoming known as Crystal Palace, and what is now the wood became the gardens of large houses. After the Crystal Palace burnt down in 1936 the area declined, and the houses were eventually demolished, while the gardens became overgrown. In 1981 the wood was entrusted to the Ecological Parks Trust, now the Trust for Urban Ecology, as a nature reserve. [1]
The site is mainly oak woodland, and some of the oak trees are over 300 years old. It also has many sycamores and other native trees, while some date from the Victorian gardens. [1] There are over 200 species of fungus, and plants include wood anemones, bluebells, ramsons and yellow pimpernels. There is a wide variety of breeding birds. [2]
There is access in two places on Farquhar Road, one opposite Dulwich Wood Avenue.
Crystal Palace is an area in south London, England, named after the Crystal Palace Exhibition building, which stood in the area from 1854 until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. Approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Charing Cross, it includes one of the highest points in London, at 367 feet (112 m), offering views over the capital. The area has no defined boundaries and straddles five London boroughs and three postal districts, although there is a Crystal Palace electoral ward and Crystal Palace Park in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms a part of the greater area known as Upper Norwood, and is contiguous with the areas of Anerley, Dulwich Wood, Gipsy Hill, Penge, South Norwood and Sydenham.
Streatham Common is a large open space on the southern edge of Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth. The shallow sloping lower (western) half of the common is mostly mowed grass, and the upper (eastern) half is mostly woodland with some small areas of gorse scrub and acid grassland. The eastern half has been designated a Local Nature Reserve.
The London Borough of Southwark, occupying a roughly triangular area south of Tower Bridge over the River Thames, considers itself to be one of the greenest boroughs in London, with its 245 hectares of public parkland. There are more than 130 such green areas, ranging from the large areas around Dulwich and Southwark Park in Rotherhithe to the many sports grounds and squares. The main ones are:
Gipsy Hill in south London is a hilly neighbourhood spanning the southern parts of the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark characterised for its great views of the City of London and Dulwich.
Dulwich Wood, together with the adjacent Sydenham Hill Wood, is the largest extant part of the ancient Great North Wood in the London Borough of Southwark. The two woods were separated after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865. The wood is privately owned and managed by the Dulwich Estate.
The Norwood Ridge is a 10-square-mile (26 km2) rectangular upland which occupies the geographical centre of south London, centred 5 miles (8 km) south of London Bridge. Beneath its topsoil it is a ridge of London Clay that is capped on all sides with remaining natural gravel deposits mixed with some sandy soil, which in the South Thames basin is a material known as the Claygate Beds.
Sydenham Hill forms part of a longer ridge and is an affluent locality in southeast London. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northeastern part of the ridge, demarcating the London Boroughs of Southwark, Bromley, and Lewisham. Its highest part is the apex of the Boroughs of Southwark and Lewisham and the 15th-highest peak in London, at 367 feet (112 m).
The A2216 is an A road in south London suburbia. It runs from the A215 in Denmark Hill to the A212 in Sydenham. Part of the road is an ancient thoroughfare, Lordship Lane. In Dulwich, the road runs via the A205 South Circular Road.
The Great North Wood was a natural oak woodland that started three miles (4.8 km) south-east of central London and scaled the Norwood Ridge. At its full extent, the wood's boundaries stretched almost as far as Croydon and as far north as Camberwell. It had occasional landownings as large clearings, well-established by the Middle Ages such as the hamlets of Penge and Dulwich.
Sydenham Hill Wood is a ten-hectare wood on the northern slopes of the Norwood Ridge in the London Borough of Southwark. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. With the adjacent Dulwich Wood, Sydenham Hill Wood is the largest extant tract of the ancient Great North Wood. The two woods are formed from coppices known as Lapsewood, Old Ambrook Hill Wood and Peckarmans Wood after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865.
Ruislip Woods is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and national nature reserve covering 726 acres (294 ha) in Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The woods became London's first national nature reserve in May 1997. Ruislip Local Nature Reserve at TQ 090 899 is part of the national nature reserve.
Coppetts Wood and Scrublands is a 14.5-hectare (36-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, between Muswell Hill and Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the Coppetts Wood and Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
Oak Hill Wood is a 10-hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation Grade I, in East Barnet, London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet, and part of it is a 5.5-hectare nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Big Wood and Little Wood are two patches of woodland in Hampstead Garden Suburb in the London Borough of Barnet. They are a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, and a Local Nature Reserve. Big Wood is 7.3 hectares and Little Wood is 1.2 hectares.
Lavender Pond is a 2.5 acre local nature reserve in Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark. It is owned by Southwark Council and managed by The Conservation Volunteers. The nature reserve has an area of woodland as well as the pond.
One Tree Hill is a defining feature of Honor Oak, mostly in London Borough of Southwark but parts also in the London Borough of Lewisham. It includes a 7 hectare public park, local nature reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, which is owned and managed by Southwark Council. Its name, and that of the Honor Oak area, derive from the Oak of Honor, a tree on the hill which marked the southern boundary of the Norman Honour of Gloucester.
Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads is a 5.8 hectare local nature reserve adjacent to Wimbledon Common in the London Borough of Merton. It is owned and managed by Merton Council.
Cherry Wood is a 1.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in Morden Park in the London Borough of Merton. It is owned by Merton Council and managed by the council together with the Friends of Cherry Wood.
Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Wood is a 1.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, in Motspur Park in the London Borough of Merton. It adjoins Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Playing Fields, and both are owned and managed by Merton Council.