Reynolds Wood - Brogborough

Site Description

Reynolds wood is a large area of semi natural habitat situated on part of the northern clay ridge of Marston Vale Community Forest area. The site broadly consists of two large blocks of mixed broadleaved planting, a substantial area of created meadow and ancient woodland. All these elements are interconnected by many kilometres of hedgerow some of which are of ancient origin. Within this mosaic are several ponds and watercourses. The large area of woodland planting is based on the of the old woodland community type situated at the northern end of the site - Holcot Wood.

80% of Holcot Wood is ancient semi natural woodland, as recently as 1795 regarded as 5 distinct blocks of woodland - Holcot wood, Hanging wood, Blackthorn Spinney, Great Spinney and Hazel Spinney. Present day Holcot Wood is part ASNW, part 19th century re-colonisation and part recent plantation and has come about through the planting and abandonment of the small areas of pasture and arable land (little field , long close and lodge close) separating the original five ancient woodlands. Some of these areas (compartment 4f, 4g and 4h) once elm dominated were planted with conifer in 1983-84. Compartment 4J the large glade was created as ‘parkland’ in 1985 in an area of elm affected by Dutch elm disease. The two large ponds were dug and pond plants introduced in 1985; the presences of clay drains here indicate its past use as arable.

Now a wet ash-field maple-hazel woodland Holcot Wood has a rich and varied fauna and flora characterised by a largely oak-ash canopy with field maple in the under storey and a shrub layer containing hazel, midland hawthorn, dogwood, spindle and black thorn. Beech, Norway maple, larch and pine have been planted in some areas.

The field layer is dominated by dogs mercury, bluebell, bramble and pendulous sedge with other woodland species- wood millet, wood melick, yellow archangel, wood anemone, wood sedge, the soft shield fern- Polystichum aculeatum, early purple orchid, wood sanicle.

The complicated history has given rise to a very diverse structure with areas of mature high forest, over stood ash coppice, recently coppice, pole stage plantings, blackthorn thickets, old rides, one large glade and several ponds. A small area of Holcot Wood (Cpt 4e) has recent Black Hairstreak butterfly records.

The Reynolds wood site was planted at a density of 1100 to 1600 trees per Ha between 1993 and1994 with compartment 2d, 2e, 2f planted in 1997.

Much of the older planting has flourished with failures of hazel in some parts due to deer browsing and some wind damage on top of the ridge. The design of the wood also included several wide woodland rides, which were seeded with a neutral grassland mix. The meadow (cpt 5) was created in 1995 under a MAFF countryside stewardship scheme.

There is much of historical interest within the site including ancient boundary banks and ditches, varied aged of field boundaries, parish boundaries, Saxon farmstead sites, ridge and furrow and wood banks.

The wood is a significant landscape feature within the Forest of Marston Vale standing on a prominent position at the eastern gateway to the forest.

Reynolds Wood performs a valuable function as a linkage and buffer of woodland and an access route for visitors between existing rights of way.