Conservation Status and Biodiversity
M.W.Hanson
Hylands has had no significant nature conservation status conferred upon it. South Wood and
grassland in the south of the park are recognised as county sites of importance for nature conservation
(SINC). The whole park (minus the recently re-acquired fields in the north-west of the park) is
listed grade II* on the English Heritage register of parks and gardens of historic interest. Unlike
Hylands House (also listed grade II*) this is not a statutory designation.
To date from the Field Club survey of 2000 - 2003, a total of 59 invertebrate species of national
conservation significance have been recorded here (Red Data Book or nationally notable). Of
these 59, 22 have been found in the formal gardens area.
The park is also home to 14 Biodiversity Action Plan Species. The park's biodiversity is further
underlined by the numbers of species recorded from each of the different groups - notably higher
plants (436 species), beetles (416), flies (337), spiders (92) and mammals (29).
Some comments about the park's conservation significance have, in my opinion, been somewhat
wide of the mark - one writer dismissed Hylands as a "Formal park with a recreational woodland".
Another work stated that the formal gardens"......are of little ecological value".
Hylands is one of the most important wood-pasture sites in Essex, outside of the better known
Epping and Hatfield Forests with a significant assemblage of saproxylic invertebrates. Although
dating from c. 1730 the park includes elements of much earlier landscapes. It could be argued that
the woods, grasslands and venerable trees represent an average Essex agricultural landscape, as it
would have appeared in the 18th century and within this landscape have survived an associated
flora and fauna. This landscape has elsewhere in Essex been fragmented or obliterated by modern
agricultural practises.
Essex does very well for wood-pasture sites: its forests - Epping, Hatfield and Hainault - are well-
known (Epping and Hatfield may be important sites in a European context). Its parkland wildlife
heritage is less well known. Hylands will never compete with nationally important sites, yet it still
makes an important contribution to this biotope in Essex. It is home to at least eight invertebrate
species and one fungus, which have not been recorded at any other site in Essex.
The contribution that Hylands makes to Essex nature conservation needs to be re-assessed and the
significance of the flora and fauna of its historic landscape recognised.
Essex Parks: Section 2 - Hylands Park
161