Chaddesley Woods National Nature Reserve is situated near the village of

Chaddesley Corbett Chaddesley Corbett is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District Council, Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. The Anglican and secular versions of the parish include other named neighbourhoods, once farmsteads or milli ...

, in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England. It is a reserve of the

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is one of 46 wildlife trusts throughout the United Kingdom, part of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the UK's largest charity network dedicated to conserving all our habitats and species. It was founded in 1968 to ...

Description

The

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

is designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

."Chaddesley Woods SSSI"
''

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

''. Retrieved 11 July 2021. Its area is , and there is a network of paths and rides, mainly on the western side."Chaddesley Woods National Nature Reserve"
''Worcestershire Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 10 July 2021. The eastern half of the reserve is

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

, being at least 400 years old; it is thought that it has been wooded since the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. There is mostly

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

with coppices of

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

. Some old and dead oak trees are left for hole-nesting birds, fungi and invertebrates. The western half has large areas of planted conifers, as well as broad-leaved trees; the conifers are gradually being replaced with native hardwoods, more suited to the local geology. The land caddis, rare in Britain, can be found in Chaddesley Woods. There are two areas of meadow, accessible on open days: these are Hockley Meadow and Black Meadow, old pastures which are grazed to maintain the presence of wild flowers such as dyer's greenweed and pepper-saxifrage.

References

{{Reflist Nature reserves in Worcestershire Ancient woods in England Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Worcestershire National nature reserves in England Forests and woodlands of Worcestershire