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Holt Copse is an ancient semi-natural woodland (listed in the English Nature ancient woodland inventory 1995) and a Wildlife Heritage site (designated by BBONT). The copse is 2.7 hectares in area (6.7 acres) and is the remaining part of a larger woodland which covered all the parkland between Jubilee Avenue and Holt Lane. This woodland has long been isolated by fields and the built environment. At present parkland and gardens act as a green buffer zone to most of the copse. The site is owned and managed by Wokingham Town Council. Holt Copse lies on the geological change
from Bagshot beds to London clay. This, along with a long
history of active management, has created the type of
woodland we see today. |
 Holt Copse is classified as a National Vegetation Classification (NVC) W10a or W10b in the wetter areas, characterised by the dominance of Pedunculate oak over bramble, hazel, and in places bracken. The copse has been actively managed as oak standards over hazel coppice, with no active management of the hazel for approximately 20 - 30 years. There is a variety of tree species within the canopy mix, but oak makes up 90% of the canopy species. The net canopy covers about 80% of the copse area. Click here for the Holt Copse species list. Regeneration of oaks has taken place in areas of long grass, but generally no young trees have emerged into the shrub layer or lower canopy. At present the woodland shrub layer is overstood hazel, with dense patches of holly and areas of bramble. Due to the lack of active management in recent years this has led to a reduction in ground flora and a channeling of public access into well defined paths. |
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(Extracts from Holt Copse Management Plan) |
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Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers |
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