The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
South Wood
There has been much discussion in recent years, when trying to evaluate ancient woods for nature
conservation, exactly what vascular plants are indicators of these woodlands. Rose (1999) attempts
to categorise such plants based on detailed surveys of four regions of southern Britain, one of
which - East Anglia - includes Essex. My survey of the Writtle Forest suggests that the best indicator
species of ancient woodland in this area are Hard Fern, Narrow Buckler, Wood Anemone, Alder
Buckthorn, Slender St John's Wort, Hairy Wood-rush, Yellow Pimpernel, Common Cow-wheat,
Wood Sorrel, Trailing St John's Wort, Lesser Spearwort, Wood Sage, Heath Speedwell, Heath
Bedstraw, Oval, Yellow and Pill Sedges, and Wavy Hair Grass. The first nine species occur in all
four regions on Francis Rose's list of Ancient Woodland Vascular Plants, the rest do not appear at
all! However, all these species are largely confined to known ancient woodlands in the Writtle
Forest or (in some instances) to equally ancient lane banks, tracksidc verges, common land and
heather-grassland. I say 'largely' because four of those first nine - Wood Anemone, Alder Buckthorn,
Yellow Pimpernel and Wood Sorrel - appear to have spread from the ancient springs at Writtle Park
into the three linking woodlands - Writtle Park Wood, Hockley Shaw and Parkponds Spring - that
were planted either in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. Of these, the Wood Anenome is the most
puzzling as it occurs in large numbers along the edge of Writtle Park Wood and yet the nearest
colonies to this site are at Mill Green Common and Barrow Wood, both of which are a considerable
distance away. Could the anemones pre-date the wood or could they be a deliberate introduction?
Just one of the problems when trying to define the plants of ancient woodland!
It is sometimes claimed (in the context of nature reserves) that big woods are better than small
because they contain more species but there is little evidence that this is true at Writtle, at least with
regards to plants. The bulk of all eight Forest springs and also the larger woodlands in Ingatestone
and Fryerning parish are situated on very dry acid sands and gravels overlaying the London Clay.
Consequently, there is little in the way of a ground flora other than bracken and bramble. This
situation remains true even after coppicing - recently coppiced areas of both Ellis Wood and Hockley
Shaw producing little in the way of plants other than along the wet ruts created by the woodmen's
vehicles. Moisture is the key to a richer flora and it is only alongside streams in the valley bottom,
and the woodland on either side, that coppicing results in a dramatic increase in flora for a few
years. If those areas should be along the edge of woodlands, giving access to increased light, then
so much the better. This holds true not only for large ancient woodlands such as Stoneymore/
Deerslade and Barrow Woods but also for small post-1600 copses. Box Wood and Woodbarn's
Spring are ancient woodlands but both are dry woods and have poor floras compared with Parkponds
Spring and Bushy Wood, which were planted after 1600, but are much more moisture retentive.
Common coppice plants such as Primrose, Common and Early Dog Violets, Bugle, Goldilocks
Buttercup, Bog Stitchwort, Wood Speedwell, Yellow Archangel and Enchanter's-nightshade are as
common here as they are in ancient woodland. Even Elmfield Farm Copse, which arose naturally
on former farmland following the construction of Ingatestone by-pass in the late 1950s, boasts a
richer flora than large areas of the ancient springs, albeit mostly garden escapes at present. Nor can
ancient woodlands lay sole claim to scarcer species. Parkponds Spring has fine stands of both
Wood Spurge and Wood Small-reed, Large Bittercress has been found in Hockley Shaw, and both
Solomon's Seal and Violet Helleborine occur in Bushy Wood. Thus, the evidence of Writtle Forest
suggests that, botanically, bigger is not necessarily better than smaller or, even, that ancient is
automatically better than modern, any more than green field sites are better for wildlife than brown
field. When it comes to conservation, every wood needs to be assessed on its merits and
preconceptions based on age and size should be avoided.
As a footnote it might be as well to note that some of the smaller, post-1600 copses might have a
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