Collinpark Wood

Also within

Gloucestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Bracken scrub, Coppiced woodland, Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Area, 66.69 ha. 164.8 ac. Description A nationally important woodland site selected as an outstanding example of damp calcifuge lime woodland in western Britain, complementing the Lincolnshire lime coppices but differing from them in the species of oak present. The site overlies clay soils and slopes gently towards the alluvial plain of the River Leadon. The main woodland stand type is dominated by coppiced small leaved lime Tilia cordata with sessile oak Quercus petraea standards. Ash Fraxinus excelsior, is also well represented, particularly in the northern part of the site and other trees include silver birch Betula pendula, field maple Acer campestre and good numbers of wild service tree Sorbus torminalis. The shrub layer is generally quite sparse but is represented by species such as hazel Corylus avellana, hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, willows Salix spp. and crab apple Malus sylvestris, while the ground layer includes abundant bramble Rubus fruticosus, bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta and dogs mercury Mercurialis perennis with greater wood rush Luzula sylvatica, bracken Pteridium aquilinum, yellow archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon, primrose Primula vulgaris and golden saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium. Streams and a damp channel in the north west of the site add diversity to the site. A recently coppiced area has proved to be of particular benefit to butterflies.

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.

Plant communities