Districts:
Vale of White Horse Parishes
Appleton-with-Eaton
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
Rolling Farmland
Site Code: 49J05
Area: 50.8ha
This site is a large area of ancient woodland which means it has been continuously wooded for at least 400 years. Although there are areas of conifer plantation much of the wood retains the composition of traditional old woodland with oak and ash trees and hazel coppice*. This type of broadleaved woodland is a national priority for nature conservation. The coppice is being actively managed and some of the areas of conifer plantation have been replaced with oak and ash. There are also small areas of wet alder woodland which is also a national priority habitat.
There is a good variety of woodland wildflowers including bluebells, primrose, wood sorrel and wood anemone. Birds present include buzzard, woodpeckers, and marsh and willow tits. Bullfinch and song thrush, which are both national priorities for nature conservation due to the rapid decline in their populations, nest in the wood.
*Coppicing is a traditional form of management where small multi-stemmed trees and shrubs are cut down to the ground at regular intervals producing a harvest of small branches.
Wooded Estatelands
Site Code: 40F01
Area: 47.3ha
Appleton Lower Common SSSI
Appleton Lower Common is a good sized area of broadleaved ancient woodland, which means it has been continuously wooded since at least 1600AD. This type of woodland is a national priority for nature conservation.
It has a canopy of ash and oak trees with a range of coppiced* trees and shrubs including wych elm, field maple and ash. Amongst a rich variety of shrubs is the rare mezereon. Woodland wildflowers found here include early purple orchid, sanicle and primrose. The wood supports a good variety of insects, including the white admiral butterfly, and lower plants (mosses, liverworts, lichens and fungi).
*Coppicing is a traditional form of management where small multi-stemmed trees and shrubs are cut down to the ground at regular intervals producing a harvest of small branches.