Bernwood Forest is aforest inEngland. Historically it was one of several forests of the ancientKingdom of England and was aRoyal hunting forest. It is thought to have been set aside as Royal hunting land when theAnglo-Saxon kings had apalace atBrill and church inOakley, in the 10th century and was a particularly favoured place ofEdward the Confessor, who was born in nearbyIslip.
From about 1217 through to the 17th century the forest went through a gradual period ofdeforestation.King Henry II (reigned 1154–1189) prepared a map of the forest at the time which is an invaluable tool in helping define its ancient boundaries; however, his purpose for drawing up the map was to divide the forest amongst his nobles. By the 16th century, another map of the forest had been drawn up by which time it had been reduced greatly in size. Again, the map was drawn up under the aegis ofthe Crown as an audit to what revenue could be made from selling off the forest. By the reign ofKing James I (reigned 1603–1625), the forest had lost its Royal status and had completely disappeared.
Today the name refers to the area ofBuckinghamshire andOxfordshire where the forest was at the time of King Henry II, covering 400 km². The approximate boundaries of the designated area today fall within theRiver Great Ouse, thePadbury Brook, theClaydon Brook and theRiver Thame.
The small modern Bernwood Forest in Buckinghamshire is approximately 1 km² and is contiguous with Hell Coppice, York's Wood, Oakley Wood and Shabbington Wood.[Note 1] ASite of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) calledShabbington Woods Complex,[1] it supports a wide variety of wildlife and is one of the most importantbutterfly sites in the United Kingdom. Its manager,Forestry England,[2] originally had a more commercial approach.Aerial spraying of pesticides occurring up until the late 1960s:firstlyDDT to controlHylobius abietis then2,4,5-T to clear broad-leafed plants (including oak saplings) before planting commercial pine stands.
Holly Wood,Holton Wood,Stanton Great Wood andWaterperry Wood, all in Oxfordshire, andHam Home-cum-Hamgreen Woods in Buckinghamshire, are also remnants of Bernwood Forest which are SSSIs.[1][3][4] Another fragment in Buckinghamshire isRushbeds Wood, an SSSI which is managed by theBerkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.[5][6]
Notes
edit- ^Google Maps over-labels the nearby Waterperry Woods as Bernwood Forest. The accurate view is represented by the Ordnance Survey maps (OS maps) displayed by Streetmap, which groups Oakley Wood, Shabbington Wood, York's Wood and Hell Coppice as Bernwood Forest.
References
edit- ^ab"Shabbington Woods Complex [SSSI citation]"(PDF). Natural England. 1981. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 1 January 2015. Retrieved4 November 2013.
- ^"Forestry England information".Archived from the original on 7 April 2025. Retrieved10 April 2025.
- ^"Ham Home-cum-Hamgreen Woods citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved13 March 2016.
- ^"Map of Ham Home-cum-Hamgreen Woods". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England.Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved13 March 2016.
- ^"Rushbeds Wood". Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved7 April 2016.
- ^"Rushbeds Wood and Railway Cutting citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved7 April 2016.
External links
edit- Find out more about Bernwood Forest and the people who lived there in medieval times.
- Bernwood Jubilee Way guide
51°47′42″N1°6′18″W / 51.79500°N 1.10500°W /51.79500; -1.10500