This wood and the adjacent playing fields are named after Sir Joseph Hood, a local benefactor, MP and Mayor of Wimbledon. The site consists of woodland, some areas of grassland and the Beverley Brook, which forms the boundary with Kingston borough. The wood was planted for the Lord of the Manor of Morden in the 1860s, and was extended recently by community planting as a Millennium project.The site is a Local Nature Reserve.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Wood
Borough: Merton
Grade: Borough Grade I
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 3.78 ha
Description
Wildlife
The wood is dominated by mature oaks dating back to the original plantation. There is a diverse shrub layer including Midland hawthorn. This, and the presence of ransoms, wood sedge and small-leaved lime suggest that there was an ancient hedgerow in the area before the woodland was planted. The Beverley Brook is rather polluted here, being used in the operation the Hogsmill Valley Sewage Works.The wood attracts common woodland birds including nuthatch and treecreeper.Facilities
Parking; playground; cafe, toilets (including disabled facilities); trim trails; recycling facilities on the adjacent playing fields.
Sir Joseph Wood Memorial Playing Fields Wood © Ian Yarham
Feedback
Have a question or a comment for this site, or notice anything missing or out of date? Please contact us.