Hedenham Wood

Also within

Norfolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Glacial Till

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Description Hedenham Wood is an ancient woodland situated at the head of a shallow valley on the South Norfolk boulder clay. Much of the wood comprises oak standards over mixed hornbeam coppice but the valley bottom contains wet ash maple wood with stands of Elm. The ground flora is diverse and includes several uncommon species. Heavy calcareous clay on the valley sides supports hornbeam Carpinus betulus coppice with maple Acer campestre, ash Fraxinus excelsior and hazel Corylus avellana under large standards of oak Quercus robur, ash and hornbeam. Other woody species include goat willow Salix caprea, aspen Populus tremula, spindle Euonymus europaeus, guelder rose Viburnum opulus, dogwood Cornus sanguinea and midland hawthorn Crataegus laevigata. On lighter soils hornbeam and ash coppice is almost pure. This is replaced by predominantly ash and maple in the valley bottom, with big, high cut elm Ulmus procera stools in the south. Suckering elm covers the site of Hedenham Hall. Where ground flora is not completely shaded out by the hornbeam, dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis is generally dominant but enchanter’s nightshade Circaea lutetiana, ramsons Allium ursinum and bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta are locally abundant. Overall, the wood’s ground flora appears rather uniform but many species are present at low frequency, most notably greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha, herb paris Paris quadrifolia and stinking hellebore Helleborus foetidus, but also including dewberry Rubus caesius, hairy wood rush Luzula pilosa, hairy St John’s wort Hypericum hirsutum, wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, sanicle Sanicula europaea, primrose Primula vulgaris and water mint Mentha aquatica. Despite recent replanting with oak and ash in the north and incomplete coppice recoverythere, the vegetation types described above are still discernible. Tufted hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa, soft rush Juncus effusus, hairy St John’s wort and selfheal Prunella vulgaris are more frequent there. Where light penetrates to the rides the flora is fairly rich, including pendulous sedge Carex pendula, wood sedge C. sylvatica, meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria, hybrid avens Geum x intermedium, yellow pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum and yellow loosestrife L. vulgaris.

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.