Belcher's & Broadfield Woods

Also within

Essex County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Glacial Till

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Area,14.4 hectares 35.5 ac Description Belcher's and Broadfield Woods are ancient coppice with standards woods lying on a Chalky Boulder Clay plateau about 2½ miles south of Halstead. They contain several woodland types including wet ash -maple, pedunculate oak -hornbeam, acid birch -ash -lime and pedunculate oak -lime. A varied ground flora, with some species uncommon or decreasing in Essex, has been recorded. The dominant tree in both woods is ash Fraxinus excelsior which forms standards and underwood. In Greenwood Spring it is mixed with field maple Acer campestre and in the west of Broadfield with sycamore A. pseudoplatanus. Hornbeam Carpinus betulus is dominant in the south west of this wood and there is a small area of small leaved lime Tilia cordata as overgrown coppice in the north east. An outlier of the woods to the east has pedunculate oak Quercus robur and ash standards over hazel Corylus avellana coppice. Where a coppice layer is clearly identified it is hazel throughout the site. Three wild service trees Sorbus torminalis are present in the east of Broadfield Wood. The ground flora is mainly bramble Rubus sp. and dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis. The woods are damp and stands of pendulous sedge Carex pendula occur in rides and in an open canopy area. Primrose Primula vulgaris is found in several areas and there are many other species of note, including wood small reed Calamagrostis epigejos and narrow buckler fern Dryopteris carthusiana. Both greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha and bird's nest orchid Neottia nidus-avis, uncommon and decreasing in Essex, have been recorded, together with dampwood or boulder clay species such as orpine Sedum telephium, Thin spiked wood sedge Carex strigosa and herb paris Paris quadrifolia. There are two small shallow ponds near the western boundary.

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.