Ten Wood

Also within

Cambridgeshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Glacial Till

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Description This is an ancient woodland of the ash maple type which has a national distribution restricted to lowland England. Since 1945 such woodland examples have declined in extent, particularly in the more intensively farmed regions and the fraction which remain are therefore of high conservation value. In a Cambridgeshire context, Ten Wood is additionally noted for the influence on its vegetation of underlying acid sand and gravels in an otherwise extended area of Chalky Boulder Clay. It is also one of the few woods where hornbeam Carpinus betulus is represented, here being at the northern edge of its range in Britain. The wood also supports an oxlip Primula elatior population; a plant which is confined to a small number of woods in eastern England. The dominant tree species of the wood are ash Fraxinus excelsior, field maple Acer campestre, hazel Corylus avellana and pedunculate oak Quercus robur. The ash, maple and hazel occur largely as coppice and the oak and some ash as standards. This structure results from a ‘coppice with standards’ management, the traditional management dating back to the Middle Ages. Other tree species include aspen Populus tremula and sallow Salix caprea. The rich ground flora includes bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta, dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis, ramsons Allium ursinum, wood sorrel Oxalis acetosella and water avens Geum rivale. The wood is also noted as providing the only record of the wood rush Luzula sylvatica within the old county of Cambridgeshire. The rides, supporting a grassland flora, add further diversity to the site. Parts of the wood have suffered in the past from attempts at coniferisation. This has largely failed and management now is towards the more compatible coppice structure. These areas are therefore retained within the boundary of the designated site.

Species mentioned