Singe Wood Nature Reserve, Oxfordshire

Three miles north of Witney in west central Oxfordshire, Singe Wood, also known as St John's Wood, contains no veteran trees and has been coppiced and otherwise managed over the centuries, but remains an ancient woodland habitat, the soils not disturbed since at least the 12th century. The wood was once part of the medieval Royal Forest of Wychwood - this was at time much more extensive than now, the surviving section being around two miles across, one mile to the north.

Singe Wood is now a nature reserve, managed by Wychwood Trust, and is notable for a wide range of fungi including such rate species as blue roundhead and wrinkled peach; it also has a good range of ancient woodland indicator species, the rarest being violet helleborine, while the ground is extensively covered bluebells in the spring.

The last significant modification to the woods was in the 1930s, when many of the trees were cut for timber, leaving the remaining woodland relatively light and open. Undergrowth is sparse making the place easy to explore.

The Nature Reserve

Singe Wood can be accessed from several points, including along St Johns Lane, a track that follows the north edge, parking in a layby just to the north, on Wychwood Way. Another entrance point is via a path from Turley Lane to the east. The westernmost section of the wood is privately owned, enclosed by a fence, but the remainder is free to explore. A few narrow paths across the wood but the well-spaced trees and general lack of the undergrowth make it straightforward to walk anywhere. Trees in the woodland include oak, hazel, elm and beech.