Abbey Wood, Flixton

Also within

Suffolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Glacial Till

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Description Abbey and Packway woods are ancient woodland on a plateau of boulder clay overlain by sand. The woodland structure consists of coppice with standards although there is some 19th and 20th century planting of broadleaves and a few conifers. The woods have a varied flora including ancient woodland plants and one scarce species. The dominant stand type is pedunculate oak hazel ash of the heavy soil form. Wet ash maple and pedunculate oak hornbeam typical ash maple stands are also present along with small suckering elm wood stands around the woodland edge. hazel Corylus avellana coppice occurs over much of the wood with some hornbeam Carpinus betulus to the south east. Oak Quercus robur, ash Fraxinus excelsior and field maple Acer campestre standards are found with the coppice. Scattered groups of planted Turkey oak Quercus cerris, Picea spp and Populus sp are also found. Dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis dominates the shaded woodland floor. Where the light penetrates the canopy, patches of the grass Poa trivialis are present. Brambles Rubus fruticosus, ground ivy Glechoma hederacea and nettles Urtica dioica are frequent. Interesting occasional species include early purple orchid Orchis mascula, bugle Ajuga reptans, Wavy Bitter Cress Cardamine flexuosa, yellow archangel Lamiastrun galeobdolon, wood millet Milium effusum, primrose Primula vulgaris, ramsons Allium ursinum, broad helleborine Epipactis helleborine and the rare thin spiked wood sedge Carex strigosa. The woods have a long and varied history ranging from the medieval association with the Augustinian Abbey of Flixton to its more recent use in the Second World War. The concrete ride in the centre of Abbey Wood dates from this time.

Species mentioned