High Wood, Dunmow

Also within

Essex County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Glacial Till

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Area,41.5 hectares 102.5 ac Description High Wood is a wet ash maple and pedunculate oak hornbeam wood developed over Chalky Boulder Clay and Loess on the main watershed between the Rivers Roding and Chelmer, in northwest Essex. Most of the wood is poorly drained giving rise to strongly gleyed soils, ranging from a neutral or weakly acidic series in the predominantly clay areas to strongly acidic series over the Loess. A rich and varied flora is associated with these soil types. The site includes both ancient woodland, formerly managed as coppice with standards and a smaller area of secondary woodland which arose in the eighteenth century New Wood. In both areas, the canopy is open and is dominated by ash Fraxinus excelsior and hornbeam Carpinus betulus with some pedunculate oak Quercus robur and abundant willow Salix spp., including large trees of crack willow S. fragilis and white willow S. alba. There is also a small amount of planted hybrid poplar Populus sp. The coppice is fragmented and over mature and consists mainly of ash, hazel Corylus avellana and hornbeam, with some field maple Acer campestre and sweet chestnut Castanea sativa. The wood also contains isolated stands of plateau alder dominated by Alnus glutinosa, a woodland type which is scarce in Essex. The ground flora is varied, most areas being dominated by dog's mercury Mercurialis perennis with locally abundant bramble Rubus sp. and primrose Primula vulgaris. Pendulous sedge Carex pendula, meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria and tufted hair grass Deschampsia cespitosa are locally dominant in the wetter areas. The damp woodland rides support a number of species of sedge, including the pale sedge Carex pallescens, which is uncommon in Essex and herbs including lesser centaury Centaurium pulchellum, common centaury C. erythraea and yellow wort Blackstonia perfoliata. The rides also provide valuable additional habitat for invertebrates and birds.

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.