Districts:
Cherwell Parishes
Newton Purcell with Shelswell
The following wildlife habitats fall within this parish. They are listed according to their associated landscape type or local character area.
If you want more information about any of the sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) listed below, take a look at English Nature's Nature on the Map website. It may also be possible to find out a bit more about the unnamed wildlife habitats in the parish by contacting the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (owls@oxfordshire.gov.uk) and quoting the site code next to the habitat description.
The majority of these wildlife habitats are on private land and access to them is not possible without permission of the landowner, unless there is a statutory right of way. However, many wildlife habitats in the county are open to the public. More information on these can be obtained from the Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum.
Wildlife Habitats
River Meadowlands
Site Code: 62E05
This site is a small wood which has a mixture of old broadleaved woodland, open wetland habitat and scrub. The broadleaved woodland has the typical appearance of old long established woodland with a mixture of oak, ash and field maple. The west edge has a mixed wetland habitat with common reed and meadowsweet. These habitats are national priorities for nature conservation.
Wildflowers recorded here include twayblade, which is a green flowered orchid, and adder’s tongue fern. The scrub area is a mixture of hawthorn and elder.
Wooded Estatelands
Site Code: 63A01
This site is ancient woodland which means it has been continuously wooded since at least 1600AD. It retains the composition of old woodland with native broad-leaved trees and shrubs. Such woodland is a national priority for nature conservation.
The wood has a canopy of oak, multi-stemmed ash, which would have been managed as coppice* in the past, and aspen. The mixed shrub layer includes much hazel coppice as well as hawthorn and blackthorn.
*Coppicing involves regularly cutting shrubs and small trees down to the ground on a regular basis producing a harvest of thin branches and is an important and traditional form of woodland management that benefits wildlife.