The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
shrub layer, among which are Hazel, Field Maple, Elm Ulmus spp., Goat Willow, Grey Sallow,
Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Bramble plus a few introduced species such as Box and Snowberry
Symphoricarpos albus. There has been no recent coppicing work but the oaks are not so dense as
in some of the neighbouring springs at Writtle Park and consequently the woodland floor is better
lit and has a richer flora, particularly along the margins. There is a good population of Early Purple
Orchid Orchis mascula while other notable species include Soft Shield, Narrow Buckler and Scaly
Male Ferns, Common Twayblade and Common Spotted Orchid. On either side of the main wood
and two long and thin woodland extensions - the Writtle Belt to the north and Tower/Lower Belt to
the south. These support a surprisingly rich and varied flora, the more notably species including
Spurge Laurel Daphne laureola, Stinking Iris, Wood Club-rush Scirpus sylvaticus, Brown and Pill
Sedges, Violet Helleborine and Ramsons Allium ursinum
Lee Wood: TL658047. Size: 2 ha/5 acres. Lee Farm, Writtle. A small Ash/Hornbeam coppice that
has not been coppiced in recent years and is consequently very dense and dark with a poor flora.
Lady Grove: TL655054. Size: 10 ha/25 acres. Moor Hall, Newney Green. This is shown as two
woods on the tithe map of 1841 but by 1876 the field that separated them had either been planted
or become overgrown with trees. It is an Oak/Ash/Hornbeam coppice that is rather dense and
overgrown at present and consequently has a poor flora. Common Spotted Orchid was recorded
here in the 1980s.
Ring Grove: TL634076. Size: lha/3 acres. Engine Spring: TL632077. Size: 1 ha/3 acres. Tye
Hall Spring: TL634083. Size: 1.5 ha/4 acres. Hopgarden Spring: TL635078. Size: 1.5 ha/4
acres. Cooley Spring: TL637088. Size: 1.5 ha/4 acres. Tye Hall Farm, Roxwell. Ring Grove and
Hopgarden Spring are depicted on an estate map of 1666, when the former was known as Wren
Grove - another misinterpretation by Ordnance Survey or their informant. The other three copses
were planted during the eighteenth century. In recent decades all five have been planted with a
wide variety of trees, including Scots Pine, European Larch, Beech, Hybrid Black Poplar, Sycamore,
Cricket-Bat Willow Salix alba ssp. caerulea and both Sessile and English Oak but their Ash/
Hornbeam coppice origins remain largely intact. They are too dense to support much in the way of
a flora but the original two contain patches of Bluebell while Ragged Robin was found in Wren
Grove and Wood Horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum on the edge of Tye Hall Spring in 1998, during
the BSBI Atlas Survey, while Spurge Laurel occurs in Cooley Spring..
Skreens Park Wood: TL625081. Size: 5 ha/12 acres. Skreens Park, Roxwell. Situated on the site
of a former deer park. Secondary Oak/Ash/Sycamore woodland that has grown up round the site of
the old house, now owned by the Scout Association. It contains a modest flora, among which are
large quantities of Dog's Mercury and Sweet Violet. Bitter Vetch Lathyrus linifolius was recorded
here in Stan Jermyn's Flora but could not be re-found during the present survey.
Sandpit Wood: TL622074. Size: 2.5 ha/6 acres. Skreens Park, Roxwell. A dense Ash/Hornbeam
coppice that has not been coppiced in recent years and consequently supports only a poor flora at
the present time.
The Moors: TL631068. Size : 2.5 ha/6 acres. Collcybridgc Farm, Radley Green. An Ash/Hornbeam
coppice that has not been coppiced in recent years but which supports a fairly rich flora in the
vicinity of the Eweson's Brook, which passes along one edge of the wood.
Skreens Wood: TL621092. Size: 4 ha/10 acres. Newland Hall, Roxwell. On an estate map of 1666
it is three times the size it is at present and stands alongside a similar sized wood known as Newland
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)