The distribution of the Oxlip Primula elatior (L.) Hill in Essex
TL72
Bat Willow Plantation, Saling; 703266; 2 hectares; 2002; present; 11-100 plants. R.T.
Blackbush Wood, Blakes End: 704235; 7 hectares; '74 - present. J.; 2002: not found. A.T.
Rumley Wood*, Rayne: 710238; 8 hectares (6 cleared); '74 - present. J.: 2002: not found. A.T.
Golden Grove* Great Saling: 712242; 3 hectares; '74 - present. J.; 2002: not found. A.T.
Shalford Park* ,Shalford: 719286; 16hectares (5 cleared); '74-present. J.; 2002; present; 11-
100 plants. A.T.
Rotten End Wood, Wethersfield: 733292; '74 - present. J.; 2002: not found. A.T
Park Hall Wood*, Bovingdon; 758292; 32 hectares; 2002; present; 11-100 plants Primroses
and hybrids present. S.W.
Stream Bank at Hole Farm, Stambourne: 701348; 1883, mention of meadows at Stambourne
containing Oxlips Ch; '74 - present. J.; 2002; not found. R.T.
Park Wood*, Stambourne: 704397; 15 hectares; '74-present. J.; 2002: present; 1001-10.000
plants. R.T
Berwick Hall Wood*, Toppesfield: 733377; 8 hectares; '74 - present. J.; 2002: present; 101-
1000 plants. R.T.
Pettyfield Wood, Ridgewell: 733396; 6 hectares; '74 - present. J.: 2002: present: 1001-10.000
plants. R.T.
Pettyfield Water Meadow, Ridgewell: 733399; 3 hectares; 1883 mention of Oxlips in meadows
at Ridgewell. Ch; '74 - present. J.; 2002; not found. R.T.
Meadow End, Great Yeldham: 745402; '74 - present. J.; 2002: not found. R.T.
Old Airfield, Ridgewell: 753412; '74 - present prior to 1940. J.; 2002: not found. R.T.
Marshy Wood*, Tilbury juxta Clare: 775408; 8 hectares; '85 / '97 present in 1985, but not in
1997. J.I.; 2002; not found -primrose, wood containing false Oxlips? R.T.
12 Acre Wood, Tilbury juxta Clare: 782405; 5 hectares; '85 / '97 present in 1985, but not found
in 1997 J.I.; 2002: not found - primrose wood with false Oxlips? R.T.
Broaks Wood, Sible Hedingham: 786315; 25 hectares; '97 present together with hybrids with
primrose J.I. 2002: present; 1-10 plants -present in coppice close to car park - no hybrids
found with the plentiful primroses, R.T. / S.L.
Although this list lays out all of the known sites in Essex, it is probably the case that there remain
a few sites that have not yet been identified. Anyone with Oxlip records is encouraged to contact
either their county plant recorder via the Essex Field Club, or the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Oxlip sites, habitats and distribution, 2002
Site losses and gains since Jermyn: When Stan Jermyn's flora of Essex was published in 1974, it
contained records of 80 Oxlip sites. Of these there were 28 on which the plant could no longer be
found. This may seem a high proportion, but it has already been noted that some of these records
may have gone back as far as 1930. The period encompassed by these records covers a time of
unprecedented change in agriculture, a large part of which was driven by the demands of the Second
World War. Indeed one of the sites disappeared under the concrete of Ridgewell airfield in 1940.
This was a time when meadows were ploughed and copses felled, a process that has continued,
although at a much slower rate now, so that it is not surprising that there have been losses.
The losses are laid out in detail in Table 1 overleaf and maps of the current distribution and
changes that have occurred since 1974 are given in Figs. 1 a and 1 b.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 19 (2002)
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