Edgefield Little Wood

Also within

Norfolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Bracken scrub, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Area, 5.5 ha. 13.6 ac. Description Edgefield Little Wood is situated on acidic glacial sands and gravels on an outlier of the Cromer Ridge. The wood consists of lowland sessile pedunculate oak wood which is very rare in Norfolk. The structure is coppice with standards but hazel Corylus avellana is absent and this type is rare in Britain. Pedunculate and sessile oaks Quercus robur, Q. petraea have been coppiced in the past. Large, ancient stools are present and these have grown to the height of the standards so the wood resembles high forest. Other tree species occurring in the wood are Scot’s pine Pinus sylvestris, larch Larix decidua and downy birch Betula pubescens. The shrub layer is mostly absent with a little rowan Sorbus aucuparia and holly Ilex aquifolium. The ground flora is dominated by bracken with one small area of bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta. Other species which occur are heather Calluna vulgaris, wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, wood sage Teucrium scorodonia, creeping soft grass Holcus mollis and mosses. Ancient boundary banks surround the wood and the woodland is of ancient, probably primary, origin.

Species mentioned

Plant communities