Tortoiseshell Wood

Also within

Lincolnshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Jurassic · Rock Type: Glacial Till, Limestone

Landscape processes: Glacial

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Area,9.4 hectares Description The site is a good representative example of oak ash maple woodland developed on a plateau of poorly drained boulder clay overlying Eastern Jurassic limestone. The wood has an excellent structure and contains many of the less common characteristic plant species of woodlands on the Kesteven plateau, several of them being rare to the county. The wood has a typical coppice with standards structure. The main standard is pedunculate oak Quercus robur with ash Fraxinus excelsior and wild service tree Sorbus torminalis, which occurs within the woodland rather than being restricted to the banks. hazel Corylus avellana and field maple Acer campestre are the main understorey species, with dogwood Cornus sanguinea, spindle Euonymus europaeus, wild privet Ligustrum vulgare, crab apple Malus sylvestris, aspen Populus tremula, blackthorn Prunus spinosa, willows Salix spp., elder Sambucus nigra and birch Betula sp. The soil is heavy and seasonally waterlogged in places, being predominantly calcareous with some neutral to slightly acidic areas. Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta and dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis form the basis of the ground flora, with areas dominated by primrose Primula vulgaris, wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, yellow archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon and ramsons Allium ursinum. In the heavily shaded areas, plants such as sanicle Sanicula europaea, pignut Conopodium majus and enchanter's nightshade Circaea lutetiana occur. Some of the less common species which are present within the wood include smooth stalked sedge Carex laevigata, thin spiked wood sedge C. strigosa, herb paris Paris quadrifolia and greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha. The site is also important for its number of breeding bird species, such as greater spotted woodpecker, kestrel, woodcock and nuthatch. The latter is a rare species in Lincolnshire, being largely confined to the south west corner of the county.

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.