Tinney's Firs - SALISBURY

Site Description

Tinney's Firs is an attractive, 26 ha very mature woodland near the Wiltshire / Hampshire border a few miles south of Salisbury. It lies at the northern tip of the New Forest and is just within the National Park and a Special Landscape Area.

Mainly broadleaf woodland, it contains a wide range of species; oak characteristically dominates throughout, with significant proportions of beech, birch and mature Scots pine, larch and yew. The 'Firs' in the wood's title refers to the stand of large Douglas fir in the woodland, which grows outside the Trust's boundary around the house near the centre of the wood.

Tinney's Firs lies nestled between the changing landforms of the rolling chalk hills of the West Wiltshire Downs and the ancient New Forest. Agriculture, mainly pasture is the main surrounding land use, with large concentrations of broadleaf woodland nearby. Further south into the New Forest greater areas of wood pasture and heathland are seen.

The wood is very undulating and contains several small streams and ditches. In geological terms the surrounding landscape is underlain by Eocene sands and clays, with London clay typical of the area. This probably goes someway to explaining the location of the old Hart Hill brick kiln and well on the north west boundary and the unusual ponds and small landforms throughout the wood.

Numerous houses from the village of Woodfalls back onto the western boundary. Open fields surround the remainder with the highway running along the southern boundary. Complimenting the extensive network of paths throughout the woodland is a public footpath that touches the north west tip and a bridleway running parallel to the eastern boundary. Very popular in the local environment, this wood is frequented regularly by visitors enjoying quiet recreation. Management access is through the newly built car park in the south east corner of the wood.