Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

Much of the site is wooded, with sycamore and ash the dominant trees. Oak, hawthorn and willows are also frequent. A number of fine specimens of exotic trees survive in the woodland from an earlier, more formal landscape. Although dominated by bramble, the ground layer is surprisingly rich and includes pignut, goldilocks buttercup, cuckooflower, primrose, wild and barren strawberries, bugle and bluebell. Several of these species indicate that the woodland is ancient, although they may have colonised from adjacent Coldfall Wood. Many of the gravestones have a good covering of mosses and lichens. More open areas support neutral grassland with a good range of wild flowers. These include burnet-saxifrage, agrimony, common knapweed and lady's bedstraw. Wild basil and wild marjoram, usually found on chalky soils, have both been recorded. Two small clumps of water avens, extremely rare as a wild plant in south-east England, have presumably spread from a graveside planting. There are numerous ant hills of the yellow meadow ant within the grassland. Strawberry Vale Brook is fringed with wetland vegetation including rushes, great reedmace, marsh thistle, pendulous sedge and some fine mature white willows. The site supports a good range of breeding birds. These include green and great spotted woodpeckers, treecreeper, goldcrest, chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap and lesser whitethroat. Muntjac deer are frequent visitors.

Facilities

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