Iken Wood

Also within

Suffolk County Suffolk Coast & Heaths Scenic Area

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Bracken scrub, Coppiced woodland, Fast flowing river and stream

Description

Description Iken Wood lies close to the banks of the River Alde and may well be the only ancient coppice wood on blown sand in Britain. It is the most interesting example of lowland coppice oak wood in Suffolk and has a distinctive flora typical of woods on light soils. The wood is almost entirely of the lowland hazel, pedunculate oak stand type with a small area of invasive elm wood, which is unusual for such an acidic soil. Huge oak Quercus robur standards are dominant with scattered silver birch Betula pendula, holly Ilex aquifolium and rowan Sorbus aucuparia. The oak was last coppiced over a century ago and now forms part of the canopy with some stools of 9 feet diameter. Beneath the widely spaced oaks are discrete stands of holly and hazel Corylus avellana coppice. Bracken Pteridium aquilinum covers most of the wood with occasional bramble Rubus fruticosus and butcher's broom Ruscus aculeatus. Beneath is abundant bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta, white climbing fumitory Corydalis claviculata, greater stitchwort Stellaria holostea and three nerved sandwort Moehringia trinervia. A marked transition occurs beneath the elm wood where characteristic associates include ground ivy Glechoma hederacea, rough meadow grass Poa trivialis, cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris and bur chervil A. caucalis.

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