Penn Wood - Kings Stanley

Site Description

Penn Wood, predominately an ancient woodland site, supports woodland clinging to the very steep, north facing slopes of the Cotswold scarp just to the south of Stroud and within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The nearest village of King's Stanley is just a couple of miles across fields to the North and the B4066 (Stroud to Dursley road) runs along its Southern boundary. To the East is the well used Selsley Common, an area of unimproved limestone grassland offering superb views over the Severn estuary and to the west is another Woodland Trust property, Stanley wood (PAWS), which continues the scarp woodland for another 2 kilometres. Woodchester Park, a 214Ha National Trust owned property to the South-West is a SSSI site notified for it’s locally typical species diversity and supporting an important breeding site for Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bats.

The calcareous soils are thin with exposed scree in places. The geology is Jurassic Oolithic limestone and the wood houses a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS) called Selsley Gully. This is the best site in Gloucestershire to show the complete exposure of the Cotswold Scarp. Previous quarrying at a central location adds to site diversity, this area may support unusual species of plants, bryophytes and invertebrates as well as bat roosts.

Part of Penn wood (compartment 4) totalling 6.69Ha is included on the Ancient Woodland Inventory. This same area was recorded as rough pasture with scattered conifer and broadleaved cover in 1882. Despite this map evidence it is not expected that the woodland of compt. 4 has been developed from a woodland pasture regime. The evidence strongly suggests that this tree cover is of plantation origin, the conifer element planted as a nurse to the Beech. At this time (1882) compartment 2 (3.98Ha) was recorded as a field; today remnant field boundary walls enclose an area of thicket staged, native broadleaf regeneration that has colonised since the removal, in the 1980’s, of a post-war plantation of larch. The remainder of the site (14.45Ha) is not recorded on the ancient woodland inventory though the evidence suggests that this is indeed an ancient woodland site (AWS). The origin of today’s high forest beech canopy is the same as compartment 4; beech planted with a conifer nurse crop, (though there is no map evidence suggesting that this area has been grazed). Despite the 86% of Penn wood that is Beech Plantation on an Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) ground flora and tree regeneration levels are widespread and diverse. This is attributed to the planting of native beech (provenance unknown) and indicates AWS. Ancient woodland communities have not been adversely affected through plantation management. Despite the beech dominated high forest canopies the developing woodland and under storey is locally typical, strongly resembling a semi-natural W12 woodland community.

The beech high forest, even-aged canopy established across the ancient woodland site suffered extensive windblow across the more exposed west and east facing slopes in the early 1990’s. Approximately 30% of the PAWS high forest canopy was lost resulting in a dramatic increase in structural diversity across the site. Regeneration has been prolific across all areas of the wood and does not show significant levels of browsing or squirrel damage.

The Woodland Trust acquired the woodland in 1993 with considerable help from local people. There are a number of footpaths including the Cotswold Way National Trail crossing the woodland and a permissive bridleway that runs parallel to the B4066 and links Stanley wood to Selsley Common. The central, open part of the woodland is a scout camp and used as an activity centre with access from the B4066. Another track, recently resurfaced runs through the wood providing third party access from the B4066 to a private house, 'The Kennels' at the bottom of the scarp.

Unlike many of the narrow woodlands on the Cotswold escarpment Penn wood has a significant core area. This additional size adds to the potential for habitat provision.