Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
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Location | Oxfordshire |
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Grid reference | SP 337 170 [1] |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 501.7 hectares (1,240 acres) [1] |
Notification | 1988 [1] |
Location map | Magic Map |
Wychwood or Wychwood Forest is a 501.7-hectare (1,240-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Witney in Oxfordshire. [1] [2] It is also a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, [3] and an area of 263.4 hectares (651 acres) is a national nature reserve [4] [5] The site contains a long barrow dating to the Neolithic period, which is a scheduled monument. [6]
In past centuries the forest covered a much larger area, since cleared in favour of agriculture, villages and towns. However, the forest's area has fluctuated. Parts cleared for agriculture during Britain's centuries under Roman rule later reverted to forest. [7] The existence of the ancient Wychwood is recognised by the authoritative Victoria County History, but the planned Volume XIX has yet to be completed. [8]
Wychwood is derived from an Old English name Huiccewudu meaning 'wood of a tribe called the Hwicce. [9] The Hwicce were the Anglo-Saxon people living in the area from some time in the 6th century until the assimilation of the Old English peoples into the wider Middle English society. [10]
Three villages take part of their name from Wychwood Forest: Milton-under-Wychwood, Shipton-under-Wychwood and Ascott-under-Wychwood. These villages, commonly referred to as The Wychwoods, used to be part of the Royal Forest of Wychwood.
Wychwood was formerly an extra-parochial area, in 1858 Wychwood became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and merged with Cornbury Park to form Cornbury and Wychwood, part also went to Leafield. [13] In 1931 the parish had a population of 253. [14]
While Wychwood was a designated Royal Forest, royalty entrusted the management of the forest to loyal servants. The men in charge of the forest were called Foresters of Wychwood and, in later years, Keepers of Wychwood. Foresters were tasked with supplying the king with deer, wood, timber and charcoal. They were also charged with upholding the king's law by protecting the forest with the assistance of under-foresters, riding foresters and walking foresters. Foresters, together with verderers (judicial officers) could hold court and try offenders for both minor and major offences. The office of Forester of Wychwood was until 1361 held by the family of de Langley, seated at the manor of Langley in the parish of Shipton-under-Wychwood. [15] They were followed by the Earls of Warwick until 1499. Management was then given by the kings as favors to courtiers for life, among them were Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester), Sir John Fortescue (Chancellor), Lord Clarendon (Chancellor) and George Spencer, the 4th Duke of Marlborough. [16]
Some of the land that had been cleared for agricultural use was purchased by the Woodland Trust, and re-planted with native English deciduous trees creating Shillbrook Wood, a 9-acre (3.6 ha) site near Bampton, and Eynsham Wood, a 13.37-acre (5.41 ha) site near Eynsham. [17] [18]
Since the late 1990s there has been a resurgence of interest in the history and identity of the Wychwood, exemplified by the founding of the Wychwood Project, now known as The Wychwood Forest Trust. [19] Since 2000, the Wychwood Forest Trust has held an annual Forest Fair at a variety of locations within the old Wychwood boundary. This is a better-behaved revival of the traditional fair that was closed down in 1856 because of rowdy behaviour.
The modern Wychwood Forest Fair is centred on rural skills, heritage crafts, local communities and countryside traditions. It attracts a large number of visitors even in bad weather.
The Oxford University Historical Re-Enactment Society, also known as the Wychwood Warriors, is a reenactment group that recreates aspects of Saxon life in Wychwood during the Dark Ages. [20]
Fragments of the ancient forest survive, one on the Cornbury Estate near Charlbury retaining the name 'Wychwood'. [21]
Spelsbury is a village and civil parish about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Charlbury and about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village is on a narrow hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwood Forest to the south. Spelsbury parish includes the hamlets of Dean and Taston, and also includes Ditchley Park. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 305.
Charlbury is a town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Witney in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of Wychwood Forest and the Cotswolds. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,830.
Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100.
The Cotswold Line is an 86+1⁄2-mile (139.2 km) railway line between Oxford and Hereford in England.
Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2016 by Robert Courts of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election.
Milton-under-Wychwood is an English village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Burford, Oxfordshire, just off the A361 road between Burford and Chipping Norton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,648.
Shipton-under-Wychwood is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode valley about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Burford, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The village is one of three named after the ancient forest of Wychwood. The others are Milton-under-Wychwood immediately to the west of the village and Ascott-under-Wychwood about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the east. The 2011 Census recorded Shipton-under-Wychwood's parish population as 1,244.
Leafield is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Leafield village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 945. The village is 635 feet (194 m) above sea level in the Cotswold Hills. It was the highest point in Oxfordshire until the 1974 county boundary changes enlarged the county.
Glympton is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about 3 miles (5 km) north of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 80. The village and church are owned by the Glympton Park estate.
Finstock is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) south of Charlbury in Oxfordshire, England. The parish is bounded to the northeast by the River Evenlode, to the southeast partly by the course of Akeman Street Roman road, and on other sides by field boundaries. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 797. For most of its history Finstock was a township of the ancient parish of Charlbury. Finstock became a separate civil parish in the late 19th century.
The Oxfordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Oxfordshire, England, with 6 miles in Gloucestershire and very short sections in Buckinghamshire. The path links with the Heart of England Way and the Thames Path.
Asterleigh, sometimes in the past called Esterley, is a farm and deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Kiddington with Asterleigh, in the West Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Charlbury. The site of the former village is about 0.25 miles (400 m) west of the present farm.
Ramsden is a village and civil parish about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 342.
Cornbury and Wychwood is a civil parish in West Oxfordshire. It includes the country estate of Cornbury Park and the ancient former Royal Forest of Wychwood, which covers several square miles between Cornbury Park, the village of Leafield and the hamlet of Mount Skippett.
Charlbury Museum is a local museum in the town of Charlbury, Oxfordshire, England. The museum and collections are organized and run by the Charlbury Society, which was founded in 1949.
Cornbury Park is an estate near Charlbury, Oxfordshire. It comprises about 5,000 acres (2,000 ha), mostly farmland and woods, including a remnant of the Wychwood Forest, and was the original venue for the Cornbury Music Festival and later the Wilderness Festival.
Bould Wood is a 58.2-hectare (144-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Shipton-under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire. An area of 23 hectares is Foxholes nature reserve, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
51°51′04″N1°30′47″W / 51.851°N 1.513°W