Milden Thicks

Also within

Suffolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Area, 46.9 ha. 116.0 ac. Description The Milden Thicks Woods are an important and inter related group of ancient woods forming a transition from the mainly ash maple hazel woods of Mid Suffolk to the lime and lineage elm woods of South Suffolk. The tendency of East Anglian woods to be a complex mosaic of different woodland types reaches its extreme in the Milden Thicks. Maple wood, maple hazel, ash hazel, hornbeam, lime and suckering elm are all present within the group. Some of this variation can be explained by differences of soil and history. The earthworks of the woods are elaborate and to some extent are related to the occurrence of trees such as lime which occurs in all the woods apart from Long. All the woods are of ecological and historical interest as individual woods. As a group they are of national importance for the comparison that can be made between them, especially in explaining the ecological behaviour of trees and the distribution of tree communities. The woods are in good condition, of coppice with standards structure, although they have suffered from decades without coppicing and consequent excessive shade. The ground flora in the woods is rich and typical of ancient woodland, with that of Walding Wood outstandingly so. Bull's Cross Wood lies on the site of four ancient woods which were combined in the late Middle Ages. It has the most elaborately complex patchwork of different types of woodland in Suffolk including oak Quercus robur, ash Fraxinus excelsior, maple Acer campestre, hornbeam Carpinus betulus, lime Tilia cordata, aspen Populus tremuloides, wild cherry Prunus avium, birch Betula pendula and elm Ulmus glabra. The coppice understorey includes hazel Corylus avellana with both common and midland hawthorns Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata, guelder rose Viburnum opulus, spindle Euonymus europaeus and dogwood Cornus sanguinea present. The ground flora, although dominated by bramble Rubus sp has an equal variety of species including violet helleborine Epipactis purpurata, bird's nest orchid Neottia nidus-avis, twayblade Neottia ovata, spurge laurel Daphne laureola, primrose Primula vulgaris, violets Viola sp and sanicle sanicle europaea. Among the smaller woods, Walding is one of the most interesting small woods in Suffolk. It has a rich flora especially in plants typical of ancient woodland including midland hawthorn, early purple orchid Orchis mascula, cuckoo pint Arum maculatum and hairy wood rush Luzula pilosa. It has fine woodland types in its seven acres and its name suggests some special social importance in the remote past. Ancient stools of hornbeam, lime, ash, lineage elm and maple are found in the wood, with a 'wall' of lime stools forming part of the boundary. Oak standards and hazel coppice are frequent in the wood. Hall and hazel appear to be unaltered medieval woods; they have many tree communities maple hazel, ash hazel, hornbeam and lime being the dominants. Large stools of hornbeam, lime, ash and maple occur amongst hazel coppice, oak is the dominant standard. At number of wild service trees Sorbus torminalis are found in the wood. These are well developed wood banks in the wood. Long and Bull's are also interesting and complex ancient woods containing lime and wild service amongst the other stand types.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.