This wood and the house opposite are owned by St. Mary’s Church, but we are in the last stages of purchasing it as a facility for the town of Kington. We would like to know more about its history. It appears to have been planted up as hazel coppice around 1960-70 and has been clear-cut at least twice since then. It is now long overdue for recutting and it is rather over-crowded. A brief survey of the plants present shows little of note. The bluebells indicate that it may be on the site an older woodland. The main coppice trees are Hazel and some Willow & Sweet Chestnut. There are a few larger “standard” trees of Oak, Ash, Wych Elm & Cherry. There are also a few rotting stumps of soft-wood trees. There is also the remains of a corrugated chicken shed in the middle. Rather than cut the whole wood as one piece we plan to make 5 strips (coups or cants). (Click for plan. Look at the map for

the whereabouts of the coppice relative to the town.) We will cut one can’t each year, working from the South to North, letting the light into each area with least shading to the next. This should help create a more regular supply of young, straight coppice materials for making hurdles etc. It will also allow wildlife (especially bats & birds) to move up through the wood as it is changed. It will be interesting to see what other plants emerge in spring. We will re-cut the coppice trees using hand saws and make brash piles between each strip (good for birds and a barrier to deer!). The remaining high stools will be cut as low as possible by a certified chain-sawyer on another occasion during the winter. Some of the cut wood will be made into habitat piles to rot down for insects etc. and some stacked to dry for firewood. Documents for further info here

Page reviewed 6/3/2018