Norsey Wood

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Norsey Wood is mixed coppice woodland, at least part of it continuously wooded since Roman times, and is criss-crossed by ancient woodbanks and ditches. It lies on gravelly deposits on top of London Clay, so the vegetation varies greatly from a well-drained plateau down to the damper and heavier soils in the southern valleys.

On the plateau is mainly sweet chestnut coppice, with occasional colonies of heather and, not far from the visitor centre, some massive stools of coppiced hornbeam that must be at least 500 years old. In the marshy valleys, you will find alder, ash and willow coppice, with areas of pendulous sedge and buckler fern.

It claims one of the greatest concentrations of bluebells in the world and large numbers of hard fern. Water violet, bog bean and skullcap grow in and around the ponds.