Swinley Forest is a large expanse of
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...
woodland managed by
Forestry England mainly within the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
es of
Windlesham
Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffix 'ham', the Old Engli ...
in
Surrey and
Winkfield
Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England.
Geography
According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens Green ...
and
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...
, England.
Coverage
Situated to the south-west of
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for ma ...
, the forest stretches from
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Reading, south of Maidenhe ...
, in the north, to
Bagshot
Bagshot is a town in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in th ...
, in the south. It is owned and managed by the Crown Estate and comprises over of woodland across gently undulating hills. Although now mostly a modern plantation of
Scots Pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and or ...
s, the area was once part of
Windsor Forest. Swinley Forest includes Crowthorne Woods around
Caesar's Camp Caesar's Camp is a name used for many Iron Age hill forts in England.
These include:
;Bedfordshire
* Caesar's Camp near Sandy
;Berkshire
* Caesar's Camp, Bracknell Forest
;Hampshire-Surrey border
* Caesar's Camp, Rushmoor and Waverley, near Far ...
between the
Nine Mile Ride
Nine Mile Ride is a length of the B3430 road in the English county of Berkshire, running from the south of Bracknell to Finchampstead, in the Borough of Wokingham. Despite its name, the road is long.
Character
The road connects several resident ...
and Crowthorne; Swinley Park between
Forest Park
A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment.
Examples Chile
* Forest Park, Santiago
China
* Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai
* Mufushan National Fo ...
and the
B3017; Bagshot Heath just west of Bagshot; and Swinley Woods around Kings Ride between the B3017 and
South Ascot
South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods, on the north by the Reading to Waterloo railway line and ...
. Much of the woods cover what used to be moorland as indicated by the names of some of the hills, such as
Broadmoor
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...
,
Owlsmoor, Wishmoor, Gormoor, Whitmoor and Englemoor (now
Englemere).
History
''Swinley Park'' once surrounded ''Swinley Lodge'' where the King kept the Royal Staghounds in
Georgian times
The Georgian Times is a weekly newspaper published from Tbilisi, Georgia, in the English and Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian et ...
. It was at the centre of ''Swinley Walke'', one of the sub-divisions of Windsor Forest.
In the 18th century
Daniel Defoe - writing in the fashion of the time of regarding uncultivated land as wild and forbidding - described Bagshot Heath as
There are a number of late 18th century
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect sold ...
s scattered throughout the forest. These defensive earth fortifications were built here not as working defences but as training grounds to carry out military exercises in the buildup to the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
In May 2011 forest fires broke out throughout the forest; the cause is believed to be a mixture of the unseasonably dry conditions and arson. Although the fires were stated at the time by the
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is a statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire in England. The fire service was formerly administered by Berkshire County Council, but when that wa ...
to have been the most extensive fires ever tackled by the service, the extent of the damage to the forest was relatively limited.
Leisure and attractions
Mountain biking
The woods provide some of the best mountain biking in
South-East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, ...
, with many off-road 'single-track' trails available as well as plenty of fire roads. Mountain biking no longer requires a permit since the introduction of the three marked trails (Green, Blue and Red) and walking is free. Swinley Woods was originally submitted as the proposed venue for the mountain biking event of the
2012 Summer Olympics, however, the distance from the main Olympic Park was considered too great and the heavy forestation along most of the suggested routes would have resulted in poor camera access and views. The event was instead located at
Hadleigh Farm near
Hadleigh,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
.
Visitor centre
At Gormoor on the
Nine Mile Ride
Nine Mile Ride is a length of the B3430 road in the English county of Berkshire, running from the south of Bracknell to Finchampstead, in the Borough of Wokingham. Despite its name, the road is long.
Character
The road connects several resident ...
, on the northern edge of
Crowthorne Woods
Swinley Forest is a large expanse of Crown Estate woodland managed by Forestry England mainly within the civil parishes of Windlesham in Surrey and Winkfield and Crowthorne in Berkshire, England.
Coverage
Situated to the south-west of Wi ...
, is ''The Look Out Discovery Centre'', operated by
Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst, Berkshire, Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of No ...
Borough Council. This is a hands-on science exhibition and nature discovery centre, which also acts as a visitor centre for the forest, providing maps, car parking and bike hire. Most of the self-guided walks and bike trails start and end at the centre.
Caesar's Camp

Adjoining the ''Look Out'' is an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...
known as ''
Caesar's Camp Caesar's Camp is a name used for many Iron Age hill forts in England.
These include:
;Bedfordshire
* Caesar's Camp near Sandy
;Berkshire
* Caesar's Camp, Bracknell Forest
;Hampshire-Surrey border
* Caesar's Camp, Rushmoor and Waverley, near Far ...
''. It is the only one in East Berkshire. It has not been excavated but Iron Age coins have been found there. The name only dates from the 18th century. Caesar's Camp appears to have fallen under the rule of
Cunobelin
Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus (d. ''c'' ...
, king of the
ymbeline/nowiki> (d. ''c'' ...
, king of the Catuvellauni tribe in the first century AD from a coin discovered in the interior. Soon after, the Ancient Rome">Romans invaded England; after this time, there is no evidence that Caesar's Camp continued to exist as an inhabited community. A road from its south entrance was later built, connecting it to the Devil's Highway (Roman Britain). There is a small Roman settlement about halfway along this road, known as Wickham Bushes, which has yielded pottery and other Roman artifacts.
A
roughly 40 m across in the fort is thought to be part of a defence line built in 1792 in preparation for the Napoleonic Wars.
facility was opened to the public, featuring a series of tree-top rope bridges and climbs.
(SSSI) and has protected areas for the birds that live there. Some parts of Swinley Forest are also covered by the
SSI, one of the largest SSIs in Berkshire. As well as the extensive commercial conifer plantations and mixed woodland the nationally rare
which nest in open parts of the forest. The area also includes some marshy areas where reptiles and
are common.