Shotesham-Woodton Hornbeam Woods

Also within

Norfolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland, Coppiced woodland

Description

Description This site consists of a group of four ancient coppice with standards woodlands that were probably once part of a continuous cover of primary hornbeam forest. The hornbeam woods of south Norfolk and north east Suffolk form a very distinctive group and Shotesham Little Wood, Saxlingham Grove, Hempnall Little Wood and Winter’s Grove are some of the most representative examples of this type. All four woods are situated on heavy boulder clays but in places there is an overlying layer of sandy loam. Consequently there are variations in the acidity and drainage of the soils and these differences are reflected in the range of stand types and in the ground flora. The flora is exceptionally rich and there are several locally scarce and uncommon plants present. The major stand type is pedunculate oak hornbeam woodland and both the heavy soil form and the nationally uncommon light soil variant are present. The standard trees are mostly pedunculate oak Quercus robur and ash Fraxinus excelsior and the main coppice species are hornbeam Carpinus betulus, maple Acer campestre, hazel Corylus avellana and ash. Free draining acidic soils occur in Shotesham Little Wood and here the ground flora is dominated by bramble Rubus fruticosus, bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta or dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis with frequent honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum and wood sorrel Oxalis acetosella. A diverse ground flora is present on the wet calcareous clays in Saxlingham Grove and Hempnall Little Wood. Dog’s mercury is dominant with frequent primrose Primula vulgaris, sanicle Sanicula europaea, enchanter’s nightshade Circaea lutetiana and wood anemone Anemone nemorosa. A number of uncommon species are present including herb paris Paris quadrifolia, greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha, early purple orchid Orchis mascula, stinking iris Iris foetidissima and ramsons Allium ursinum. In addition, Hempnall Little Wood is the only site for wild service tree Sorbus torminalis in south Norfolk. Small areas of other stand types occur and these include wet ash wych elm woodland and wet ash maple woodland. The core of Winter’s Grove is surrounded by a massive medieval woodbank and ditch and although small is a complete example of an ancient wood.

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.