Penn Wood - Penn Street

Site Description

Penn Wood is one of the largest ancient woodlands in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Chilterns Natural Area is characterised by its high density of ancient woodland much of which is semi natural. Penn Wood lies in the heart of this area. A number of ancient woods adjoin Penn Wood at various points around its boundary.

From before the Norman Conquest until the mid 19th Century Penn Wood was a wood pasture common. In the 1850s the wood was enclosed and converted to high forest. It was probably at this time that several of the rides through the area were lined with specimen conifers and rhododendrons. The wood was designated an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) in 1951. From 1950 - 1985 about half the site was felled and replanted with conifers, beech and oak and as a result the woodland was de notified as an SSSI in 1979. In the early 1990s extensive felling took place in preparation of fairways for a proposed golf course.

The site consists of a mosaic of ancient semi natural woodland (ASNW), species rich grassland and scrub typical of wood pasture woodlands. Old growth features survive including one veteran oak, the remains of an ancient collapsed beech tree and a scattering of trees over 200 years old across the site. The site has a rich ancient woodland vascular plant flora and at least 10 county uncommon plants. It has a good bird population, there may be a dormouse population, with nationally scarce and County rare invertebrates. There are also several historic ponds on the site that are being restored by removing silt to provide open water.

There are archaeological features scattered across the site such as woodbanks, flint and clay pits.

A community group, The Friends of Penn Wood, led the campaign to prevent the development of a golf course on site. They have evolved into a group that help warden the site and take an active interest in the management of the wood. The local group have also set up fix point photo monitoring sites in the wood and they have constructed a web site where these pictures are shown www.pennstreetvillage.co.uk. There are also several local wildlife groups, involved in bird, butterfly and fungal surveys. They will be carrying out long term monitoring of the wood in respect to elements of the plan.

Part of the woodland (136ha) is being managed as wood pasture. About 18 cows are grazed during the winter months in this part of the wood. These have the run of the wood and are restricted only by the boundary fences.

There are three public rights of way (PROW) across the eastern third of the site and under previous ownership public access was restricted to these rights of way. However since the Woodland Trust acquired Penn Wood, an extensive new network of paths has been made available for walkers across the whole site. Further improvements have included the provision of an “access for all” path close to the church and an upgraded path linking the public path networks, north and south.