GENERAL MEETING 4 3
NORSEY WOODS AND CATER MUSEUM, BILLERICAY 20th April, 1980
About 36 members led by Alan Toogood met in the Car Park
at Norsey Woods on a windswept Sunday morning. Norsey
Woods is a nature reserve of 165 acres owned and managed
by Basildon District Council. The party was fortunate
enough to be shown interesting features of the reserve
by the Warden and his Deputy, which greatly added to the
value of the visit.
Norsey Wood is an ancient wood which passed through the
hands of Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux after the Conquest and,
subsequently, into the ownership of the Abbey of Stratford
Langthorn. After the dissolution, the Petre family held
it continuously until the last century as part of their
substantial estates centred around Ingatestone. It was
managed as coppiced woodland throughout this period, but
had fallen into decay through lack of management over the
past 30 years or so.
Resumption of management has seen the return of coppicing
which will be carried out progressively throughout much
of the reserve. The regrowth of ground cover was much in
evidence, providing habitats in which plants, birds and
insects can thrive. Sweet chestnut is the dominant tree
in the areas so far coppiced - regrowth being up to 6 feet
after one year. Many of these trees appear to have been
planted within the last hundred years, replacing oak
standards felled since the turn of the century, but older
stools were also in evidence.
The archaeological evidence of the Woods' past, including
a Bronze Age barrow and at least two medieval banks -
the first to keep deer in the Wood and the second to keep
them out, provided points of interest resulting in
interesting discussions amongst the members. The diverse
woodland also includes a small larch plantation, a birch
thicket and mixed woodland reflecting the various soil
types, past management and the geological formations
of the site. The valleys on the reserve once contained
streams draining into the River Crouch, these possibly
dating back to the end of the Ice Age.