Many species depend on dead and decaying wood for their survival; fungi, insects and many other organisms help breakdown and recycle wood and the leaf litter. Others such as butterflies benefit from sunlight let in by felling or the death of old trees, and the careful management of open glades and rides within the wood.

 

Coppicing in woods that have traditionally been managed as coppice can help conserve wildlife adapted to this process of regular cutting and regrowth of new shoots from the cut stumps. The cut poles can be put to many uses, perhaps the most important of these has been firewood. Many species of birds and butterflies have become rarer as this management technique has declined. However it is now essential to protect coppiced areas from browsing by increasing numbers of deer or livestock.

Another often overlooked aspect of many ancient woods are the historical features. Some of these relate directly to the traditional woodland management and include woodland boundary banks and ditches, sawpits, charcoal hearths, tracks and hollow ways and old quarries. Other features are preserved in woods from earlier landuses such as field systems and lynchets (a type of bank created by ploughing). Old buildings, hillforts, wells and wartime structures may also be found. In some cases the vegetation helps pick up changes in soil conditions caused by these man made features, this is either due to changes in moisture or mineral content of the soil where the subsoil has been brought to the surface and mixed with the organic humus layer.

It is a good idea to map these archaeological features within the wood, so that they are not harmed by woodland management operations. This aspect of the historic environment is important to understanding the woods past and how its ecology has evolved. Old trees, including pollards, hedgerow stubs and ancient coppice stools, are all an important part of the historic environment of the wood. These woodland features have frequently been overlooked and are generally not recorded in archaeological surveys but are often better preserved here than on farmland, where they might only remain as crop marks identified by aerial survey. Remember features in woods cannot normally be seen from the air, so are not picked up by remote desk top studies.

 

For more information contact John Morris, Manager, Chiltern Woodlands Project, The lodge, Station Road, Chinnor, OX39 4HA.  Tel: 01844 355503. Email:  woodlands@chilternsaonb.org