Cocksherd Wood Explained

Cocksherd Wood is a 4.8abbr=offNaNabbr=off Local Nature Reserve in Slough in Berkshire. It is owned by Slough Borough Council and managed by Evergreen 2000. The reserve is known locally as Bluebell Wood.^{[1] [2]}

Geography and site

The site is 11.98acres in size.^[3] The site features ancient woodland with coppiced areas and some meadow and grassland areas.^[4]

The site lies at the end of a Chalk dry valley, a tributary of the Haymill Valley and is mainly on the Lambeth Group.^[5] in 1979 the woods and surrounding land was transferred over to Slough Borough Council.^[4]

History

The woods have been there since at least the 1700s as they featured on Jefferys Map of Buckinghamshire which was dated 1766–68.^[6] In the 1950s the woodland was bought by the London County Council as part of the Britwell development.^[6]

In 1996 the site was declared as a local nature reserve by Slough Borough Council.^[1] In 2001 management of the reserve was given to Evergreen 2000 trust.^[4]

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:^{[1] [3] [4]}

Invertebrates

• Small skipper
• Small tortoiseshell
• Meadow brown
• Stag beetle
• Pieris brassicae
• Ringlet

Birds

• European green woodpecker
• Eurasian bullfinch
• Red kite

Flora

The site has the following flora:^[4]

Trees

• Acer campestre
• Betula pendula
• Corylus avellana
• Crataegus monogyna
• Quercus robur
• Fagus sylvatica
• Fraxinus excelsior
• Ilex aquifolium
• Prunus avium
• Prunus spinosa
• Rhododendron ponticum
• Salix caprea
• Sambucus nigra
• Sorbus aucuparia
• Ulmus procera

Plants

• Lonicera periclymenum
• Anemone nemorosa
• Carex sylvatica
• Hyacinthoides non-scripta
• Poa nemoralis
• Vicia sepium

References

51.536°N -0.639°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cocksherd Wood. Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 29 October 2019.
2. Web site: Map of Cocksherd Wood . Local Nature Reserves . Natural England. 29 October 2019.
3. Web site: Britwell and Haymill – Postcards from Slough . Postcards-from-slough.co.uk . 2017-04-28.
4. Web site: Cocksherd Wood and the Evergreen 2000 Trust . T.M. Tauren Bent . June 2003 . 2017-04-28.
5. Web site: Cocksherd Wood . Berkshire Geoconservation Group . 5 August 2021.
6. Web site: Cocksherd Bluebell Wood, Britwell. May 2007 . Sloughhistoryonline.org.uk . 2017-04-28.