Districts:
West Oxfordshire Parishes
Great Tew
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
Farmland Plateau
Site Code: 42D01
Area: 7.1ha
This site is an area of long established woodland. It has a mixture of native trees including oak and ash and large numbers of yew. The wood is an old plantation and there are a number of non-native species such as lime.
The wood has a variety of woodland wildflowers that are found in old woodland including bluebells and spurge laurel. The site was originally included as a County Wildlife Site due to the presence of a heronry, which is the communal nesting site for herons. There are few heronries in Oxfordshire and each supports a considerable part of the local population. However the herons have now left this site.
Site Code: 43A01.2
Area: 3.11ha
This site is a long established area of old plantation woodland. The wood is a mixture of native broadleaved trees including beech, ash oak and hornbeam along with the non-native sycamore. The shrub layer has much holly and hawthorn while on the ground there are carpets of bluebells in the spring. Mixed broadleaved woodland is a national priority for nature conservation.
Besides the bluebells other woodland wildflowers found here include dog’s mercury, sanicle and pignut. Early purple orchid and most notably the uncommon and unusual bird’s nest orchid have been recorded here in the past.