Pear Wood is an ancient woodland, composed mainly of beech, oak and birch trees, with smaller numbers of sweet chestnut, hornbeam, crab apple, wild cherry, ash, rowan and Scots pine. It overlies fast-draining gravel soils, although there are some wetter areas. Although ancient in origin, Cloisters Wood in the north-west of the site consists largely of coniferous species.The adjacent country park, a Local Nature Reserve, includes an extensive mosaic of young oak-birch woodland, gorse scrub, and both acid and damp neutral grassland. Local volunteers manage the site to maintain the open habitats.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Pear Wood and Stanmore Country Park
Borough: Harrow
Grade: Metropolitan
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 59.61 ha
Description
Wildlife
Further trees and shrubs in Pear Wood include alder buckthorn and wild service-tree. Ground-level plants include the grasses wood millet, wood poa and creeping soft-grass, wood and remote sedges, black bryony, hairy wood-rush, wood sage and dog's mercury. Wetland habitats support unbranched bur-reed, small sweet-grass and water horsetail.Uncommon wildflowers of the open habitats in the country park include pepper-saxifrage, devil's-bit scabious and heath groundsel.The breeding bird life occasionally includes hobby and grasshopper warbler.The insect life is also important and many rare species occur. These include the jewel beetle Agrilus angustulus, the moths red-green carpet and mother shipton, and the brown argus and white-letter hairstreak butterflies.Pear Wood is one of only two sites in London for the southern wood ant, which builds impressively large nesting mounds. The local population of wood ants extends into the southern edge of the adjacent Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, where special measures are being taken to protect their habitat during redevelopment.Facilities
Car-park (at Stanmore Country Park).
Wood-ants swarming in Pear Wood © Mike Waite
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