Speech House Oaks

Speech House Oaks
Site of Special Scientific Interest
	Oak near Speech House in autumn colours
	Location within Gloucestershire
Location	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO622123
Coordinates	51°48′31″N2°32′56″W / 51.808503°N 2.548942°W Coordinates: 51°48′31″N2°32′56″W / 51.808503°N 2.548942°W
Interest	Biological
Area	16.26 hectare
Notification	1972
	Natural England website

Last updated October 26, 2021

Speech House Oaks (grid reference SO622123 ) is a 16.26-hectare (40.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972.^[1]^[2]

Location and habitat

The Speech House Oaks are located in the Forest of Dean, which is managed by the Forestry Commission.^[4] The site is a linear band of open woodland of oak on either side of the Speech House Road near Speech House, and is close to the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail.^[1]^[4]

The planting and careful management of the vast woodland of the Forest of Dean has been carried out for hundreds of years. This has resulted in a mosaic of different types of tree. The central area of the forest is on the Coal Measures and this supports oak. Such woodland has limited ground flora as this area is acid. Limestone and Old Red Sandstone rocks surround this central area. The soils in the surroundings are richer, and support a variety of tree types and a more abundant ground flora.^[1]

Flora

The site is significant for epiphytic flora and supports a range of uncommon lichens and bryophytes. There is considered to be a low level of atmospheric pollution in this area, and, together with the ancient trees, this has encouraged a significant diversity of ephyitic flora (numbers are recorded and particular species listed).^[1]

The oaks and hollies are on acid loam which is poorly drained. There is bracken, bramble and common bent. This is the usual make-up of such areas which are grazed oak woodlands.^[5]

Fauna

Old trees develop holes where they shed branches, and these are recorded nesting sites for particular birds such as the common redstart.^[1]

Related Research Articles

Lying close to the village of Soudley in the Forest of Dean, west Gloucestershire, Soudley Ponds, also known as Sutton Ponds, comprise four linked man-made ponds lined in succession through the narrow Sutton Valley, and surrounded by stands of tall Douglas Fir. It is a 7.04-hectare (17.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1984.

Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove is a 13.59-hectare (33.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in Gloucestershire in South West England. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Nagshead is a woodland reserve, located on the western edge of Parkend, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and is home to RSPB Nagshead. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review'.

Lower Wye Gorge is a 65-hectare (160-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954 and renotified 1987. The site includes two Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves being Ban-y-gor Wood and Lancaut. The Natural England citation states a revision for Lancaut inclusion.

Dymock Woods is a 53-hectare (130-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1990. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Hobbs Quarry, Longhope is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1966. It is situated midway between Longhope and Dursley Cross in the Forest of Dean. Adjacent woods are Kiln Wood and Coleman's Wood. The site is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Collinpark Wood is a 66.69-hectare (164.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1966, revised in 1974 and renotified in 1983. There was a boundary change in 1983. There are seven units of assessment. Unit 1 is a 15-hectare (37-acre) area owned and managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The trust purchased this part of the wood in 1979 with grant aid from WWF. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Upper Wye Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological and geological characteristics, around Symonds Yat in the Upper Wye Valley on the Wales–England border. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Nagshead SSSI is a 297 acres (120 ha) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest located within RSPB Nagshead, near Parkend, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.

Astridge Wood is a 19.42-hectare (48.0-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1985. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Bigsweir Woods is a 48.16-hectare (119.0-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1984. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Brooks Head Grove is an 11.9-hectare (29-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).

Devil's Chapel Scowles is a 44.79-hectare (110.7-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified England, in 1998. The site lies in the Forest of Dean and has four units of assessment by Natural England.

Dingle Wood is a 9.95-hectare (24.6-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). The wood is located within the Forest of Dean Forest Park and the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Highbury Wood is a 50.74-hectare (125.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1983.

Poor's Allotment is a 28.57-hectare (70.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

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).

Wigpool Ironstone Mine is a 34.88-hectare (86.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1998.

Lippets Grove is a 5-hectare (12-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire. The site was leased from the Forestry Commission in 1987 and is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

References

SSSI Source

External links

Natural England (SSSI information)
Forestry Commission

Speech House Road
Royal Oaks opposite Speech House
Speech House

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[NE_citation-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Natural England SSSI information on the citation

[2] Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Sites of Special Scientific Interest

[3] Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Key Wildlife Sites

[FC_information-4] 1 2 Forestry Commission information on the Speech House woodland

[5] "Speech House Oaks" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

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v t e Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
Ashleworth Ham Astridge Wood Badgeworth Barnsley Warren Barton Bushes Bigsweir Woods Blaisdon Hall Bourton Down Box Farm Meadows Boxwell Brassey Brooks Head Grove Buckshraft Mine & Bradley Railway Tunnel Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill Bushley Muzzard, Brimpsfield Caerwood and Ashberry Goose House Chaceley Meadow Clarke's Pool Meadow Cleeve Common Cockleford Marsh Collinpark Wood Coombe Hill Canal Coombe Hill Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Cotswold Water Park Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake Daneway Banks Dean Hall Coach House & Cellar Devil's Chapel Scowles Dingle Wood Dixton Wood Dymock Woods Edge Common Elmlea Meadows Frampton Pools Highbury Wood Hobbs Quarry Hornsleasow Roughs Hucclecote Meadows Innsworth Meadow Juniper Hill, Edgeworth Kempley Daffodil Meadow Kingscote and Horsley Woods Lark Wood Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Lineover Wood Lower Woods Lower Wye Gorge May Hill Midger Minchinhampton Common Nagshead Old Bow and Old Ham Mines Old River Severn, Upper Lode Pennsylvania Fields, Sedbury Poor's Allotment Puckham Woods Range Farm Fields River Wye Rodborough Common Rough Bank, Miserden Salmonsbury Meadows Selsley Common Severn Estuary Severn Ham, Tewkesbury Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods Slade Brook Soudley Ponds Speech House Oaks Stenders Quarry Stinchcombe Hill Strawberry Banks Swanpool Wood and Furnace Grove Swift's Hill Sylvan House Barn The Hudnalls The Malvern Hills Tudor Farm Bank Turvey's Piece Upper Severn Estuary Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow Upper Wye Gorge Walmore Common Westbury Brook Ironstone Mine Whelford Meadow Wigpool Ironstone Mine Wildmoorway Meadows Winson Meadows Woodchester Park Workman's Wood Wotton Hill Yarley Meadows
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