Hainault Forest - Romford

Site Description

The Woodland Trust’s Hainault Forest Estate is made up of two discrete areas. The larger part is an Ancient Woodland Pasture site and along with land owned by the London Borough of Redbridge forms Hainault Forest Country Park. In 2006 four adjacent arable fields (135 acres 54ha) were acquired adding to the total area of publicly accessible land in the Country Park.

This plan updates the 2004 – 2009 Hainault Forest Plan to include the recently acquired land and the changed opportunities it provides for the Forest as a whole. Details regarding the land owned by London Borough of Redbridge have not been included in this revised plan and so when we refer to Hainault Forest we only mean that bit managed or owned by the Woodland Trust. The term Hainault Forest Country Park (HFCP) will be used to refer to the whole forest area, including LBR land.

Hainault Forest is made up of a broad range of habitat types. These include ancient wood pasture, native broadleaved woodland, mature scrub and open grassy margins, amenity grassland, semi-improved acid grassland, heathland and former arable fields. Wetland habitats include streams, drainage ditches and woodland ponds.

HFCP is situated in a very urban environment with residential areas adjoining the site to the west and a municipal golf course to the east and south. The Forest is only 8 miles from the M25 and 4 miles from the M11, consequently it is a popular destination for visitors from a wide area. The northern section, managed by The Woodland Trust, is situated along a ridge and forms the highest part of the Forest with generally flat to gently sloping ground. The section managed by LBR is more sloping, lower-lying land centred on an artificial lake.

The majority of the site, including the northern ridge, is London Clay. Around Cabin Hill, and over most of the Lambourne section, is a large cap of sandy and loamy beds. The summit of Cabin Hill (formally Sandpit Hill) is mapped as Bagshot Beds and Dog Kennel Hill is overlain by Claygate Beds. According to the Geological Survey, there are patches of Glacial Gravel and Till on the middle and west of the ridge. Although Pebble Gravel is not mapped there may be a small patch of it on Crabtree Hill. Lying in the valley bottom are drift deposits of undifferentiated Head.

The soils over the majority of the site are therefore heavy clays of neutral to acidic pH, becoming lighter on higher ground over the silty sands of the Claygate Beds. Higher still, the Bagshot series give rise to even sandier soils of lower pH, with a coarse pebbly content. The soils of the valley floor are derived from a complex mixture of pebbly, sandy clays. The soils in general are fairly infertile except in the valleys, and poorly drained, with many springs and flushes.

The history of the Woodland Trust Hainault Forest Estate can be divided into two distinct chronologies.

Hainault Forest:

Until 1851 much of the land presently owned by Essex County Council and one of the recently acquired fields, 90 acre field, lay within Hainault Forest which was then an extensive area of common land with ancient pasture woodland covering some 4,900 acres/1984 hectares. In 1851 Hainault Forest was disafforested by Act of Parliament. Most of the pasture woodland of Hainault Forest was destroyed very soon after the 1851 Act by being converted to arable with only 300 acres out of the original 4900 acres left in 1900.

Essex County Council owns almost the entire remaining ancient pasture woodland habitat of Hainault Forest. Most of these remnants of Hainault Forest are now included within the Hainault Forest Country Park, which is owned by Essex County Council and London Borough of Redbridge – the county boundary, which is an ancient boundary line, passes through the Country Park. The Country Park was created in 1906 following the acquisition of what was left of Hainault Forest in 1903 by Essex and London Councils galvanised into action by Edward North Buxton. An act of Parliament in 1906 laid down the agreement for the Forest to be managed for the public forever.

The Woodland Trust in 1998 leased 319 acres/129 hectares of the relict ancient pasture woodland of Hainault Forest from Essex County Council and manages it on their behalf. The location of Hainault Forest in southwest Essex is shown on Map 1. The area of land leased and owned by the Woodland Trust is shown on Map 2.

Havering Park Farm:

Since at least the 12th century three of the recently acquired fields formed part of the deer park to the west of Havering Palace (ECC 200??) Early maps indicate the northern boundary of the fields, Spurgate Brook formed the Boundary pale fence for the deer Park. The park was enclosed in the mid 17th century and the three fields appear to have been intensively farmed ever since. The WT acquired the land in 2006.

The wood pasture history of much of HFCP has resulted in hornbeam becoming the dominant species at the expense of other trees. Oak (Q. robur) while found through HFCP is only occasional to locally common in abundance, probably associated with former glades and plains. The under storey/intervening vegetation is dominated by holly or bramble. Main variations are linked to wet areas where ash appears and on the edges of the former plains where scrub encroachment has led to a wider variety of species, including oak, grey poplar, hawthorn and blackthorn. Hainault has rather fewer plant species than would be expected for an ancient semi-natural woodland of its size. A notable rarity is hazel, presumably eliminated by centuries of browsing. Calcicoles are generally few, except around Roes Well where species such as dogwood mark the influence of boulder clay.

Ground flora is generally sparse as a consequence of the shade, where present it is predominantly bracken and brambles with small patches of bluebell and holcus mollis. Plants of ancient woodland are well represented and include Luzula pilosa and Ruscus aculeatus. The richest communities are in wet places, which have not only wetland species such as Typha latifolia and Humulas lupulus but are also the chief habitat of the ordinary woodland flora such as Oxalis, Ajuga and Brachypodium sylvaticum. Even small flushes have Solanum duilcamara and Carex remota. Much remains of the heathland component, especially on the westernmost edge. Regionally rare plants on the site include dwarf gorse and water chickweed and regionally uncommon are heather, broad-leaved helleborine, common centaury, black poplar, ramson and barren strawberry.

335 species of macro-fungi and slime moulds have been recorded across the site.

158 bird species have been recorded at HFCP. Many of these are associated with the lake and grassland with 63 species associated with the ancient woodland. HFCP is regionally important for the following breeding birds - marsh tit, bullfinch, tree sparrow, nightingale, firecrest, linnet and turtle dove. Notably it is one of the key sites in the London area for hawfinch. It is of county importance for wood warbler, spotted flycatcher, tree pipit, redpoll, woodcock, and three species of woodpecker. Wintering species include fieldfare, redwing and brambling. The lake supports breeding coot, moorhen, mallard, tufted duck, great crested grebe, Canada goose and mute swan. Wintering species include pochard and shoveler.

Prominent mammals include grey squirrel and rabbit. Typical small mammals include wood mouse, bank vole, field vole and shrew species.

Over 940 species of invertebrates have been recorded at HFCP of which 7 are Red Data Book species, 79 are nationally scarce and 176 are of local importance. These include comma and speckled wood butterflies; goat moth; common darter and southern hawker dragonflies; and roesel’s bush-cricket.

The recorded fauna of ponds and watercourses is limited and unexceptional. However Roes Well is interesting in that it supports species that are characteristic of both flowing and still water.