| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 Frithy Wood | |
| Location | Suffolk |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL 859 536 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 28.7 hectares [1] |
| Notification | 1987 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Frithy and Chadacre Woods is a 28.7-hectare (71-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the parishes of Lawshall and Shimpling in Suffolk, England. [1] [2]
Three ancient and semi-natural woods form the SSSI, namely Frithy Wood in Lawshall parish and Ashen Wood and Bavins Wood on the Chadacre Estate in Shimpling parish. [3]
All three woods are of the wet ash (Fraxinus excelsior) / maple (Acer campestre) type, with hazel (Corylus avellana) also present in considerable quantity. There are pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) trees and other tree and shrub species include aspen (Populus tremula), wild cherry (Prunus avium), midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), crab apple (Malus sylvestris), holly (Ilex aquifolium), spindle (Euonymus europaeus) and common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea). The structure of the woods has been greatly influenced by the management of the coppice. [4]
The three woods have diverse woodland floor vegetation, which is dominated by either dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) or brambles (Rubus spp.). They contain a number of plants characteristic of woodlands of this type including herb paris (Paris quadrifolia) in Ashen Wood and wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides), woodruff (Galium odoratum), sanicle (Sanicula europaea) and stinking iris (Iris foetidissima) in Frithy Wood. The SSSI lies within the distribution of oxlip (Primula elatior) and all three woods contain this species. There are many other woodland floor plants including early purple orchid (Orchis mascula), twayblade (Neottia ovata), gromwell (Lithospermum officinale) and bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scriptus). [4]
There are several well-vegetated rides in the group of woods that support a mixture of woodland and meadow plant species and which attract considerable numbers of common butterflies. Frithy Wood also contains an area of pasture which projects into the wood which is partly shaded by a number of standard trees. [4]
The birdlife of Frithy Wood has been recorded in detail with species including the nightingale, European green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker and lesser spotted woodpecker which breed regularly. [4]
Roe deer, fallow deer and muntjac can also be seen in the woods but they have caused considerable damage to the ground vegetation.
Forest school sessions are held in Frithy Wood by permission of the landowners. The 'school' represents an initiative of All Saints Primary School, Lawshall and the Green Light Trust, an environmental and educational charity. [5]
Oliver Rackham has stated that "a wood now called The Frith is almost certain to be pre-conquest, from Old English Fyrhp." [6] In a later book he stated that "an Anglo-Saxon (parallel) is fyrth, a wood, which has given rise to many Frith or Frithy Woods." [7] [8]
There is documentary evidence for the existence of Frithy (formerly Frith) Wood dating back to 1545 and its Saxon name would imply that the wood is much older than that. All three woods are part of ancient woodland and contain broad boundary banks and ditches typical of coppice woods dating from the medieval period or before. [4]
In more recent times in the twentieth century pigs were kept in Frithy Wood and at one time the wood extended as far as The Street.
On 31 August 1921 it was reported in the Suffolk Free Press that the remains of George Nunn aged 55 of Lawshall were discovered hanging in Frithy Wood. He had been missing for around 4 months since 22 April and was found a short distance from where he lived. [9]
The woods are not private with easy access.
In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 is likely to have developed naturally.
Whittlewood Forest is a former medieval hunting forest east of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. It is managed by the Forestry England. There are tracts of ancient woodland within it and old ditches can be found at the edges of several individual woods. The area has been the subject of extensive academic historical research. An area of 400 hectares in seven different patches has been designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is about half the size of an average English parish. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.
Alpheton is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located on the A134 road about six miles north of Sudbury, in 2005 it had a population of 260, reducing to 256 at the 2011 Census. According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is the homestead of Aelfled.
Barking is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is 2 miles (3 km) west of Needham Market on the B1078 road. The village is linear along the road with its centre being around the area known as Barking Tye and away from the large village church of St Mary. There are six bells that hang the church of St Mary with the largest weighing 11 cwt - 1 qr - 7 lb. All 6 bells were recast and rehung in 1911 by Alfred Bowell.
Burgate is a small village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Diss in Norfolk. The church, dedicated to St Mary and dating from the 14th century, was restored in 1864 and is a Grade II* listed building. The parish includes the villages of Little Green and Great Green (north).
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.
Hatfield Forest is a 403.2-hectare (996-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Essex, three miles east of Bishop's Stortford. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site. It is owned and managed by the National Trust. A medieval warren in the forest is a Scheduled Monument.
Shimpling is a village and civil parish in south Suffolk, England. About 7 miles (11 km) from Bury St Edmunds, it is part of Babergh district. The village is formed from two halves, the newer Shimpling Street and about 2 miles (3 km) away the old village of Shimpling. The village has a Church of England parish church, where supermodel Claudia Schiffer and film producer Matthew Vaughn were married on 25 May 2002.
Lawshall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around a mile off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, it is part of Babergh district. The parish has nine settlements comprising the three main settlements of The Street, Lambs Lane and Bury Road along with the six small hamlets of Audley End, Hanningfield Green, Harrow Green, Hart's Green, Hibb's Green and Lawshall Green.
Hayley Wood is a 51.7-hectare (128-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Great Gransden in Cambridgeshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, and it is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. It was the subject of a book by the academic and woodland expert Oliver Rackham, listed below.
Audley End is a hamlet in the civil parish of Lawshall in the Babergh district in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located between Lambs Lane and Chadacre Hall and is around two miles off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury. Ashen Wood is nearby where the parish gallows were located.
The Street is a linear settlement in the civil parish of Lawshall in the Babergh district in the county of Suffolk, England. It extends from Lawshall Hall in the west to Donkey Lane in the east. The settlement includes Swanfield, east of the Swan Public House and the small residential development of Hall Mead which is opposite All Saints Church.
Croes Robert Wood is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics, in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Gwent Wildlife Trust, the owners of the site, manage the woodland through methods of coppicing and charcoal burning to encourage its notable flora and fauna.
Foxley Wood is a nature reserve in Foxley, Norfolk, England, the largest ancient woodland and coppice in Norfolk. The Norfolk Wildlife Trust, which manages this reserve, bought it in 1998. It is 123 hectares in size. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and a National Nature Reserve.
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 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).
The Hudnalls is a 94.4-hectare (233-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Abbey Wood, Flixton is an 18 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south—west of Bungay in Suffolk. It consists of two adjoining areas, the larger Abbey Wood to the north and the smaller Packway Wood to the south.
Nance Wood is a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Portreath, west Cornwall. The site was first notified in 1951 for its almost pure dwarf, sessile oak coppiced woodland, good bryophyte flora and Irish spurge, which is found in only two localities in Britain.
52°09′N0°43′E / 52.15°N 0.72°E
